


Fortune's Fools

by JunoInferno



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: F/M, I can't help myself, Mirror Universe, Original Character(s), So not canon, also drastic measures type things happened but they were different because i wrote an au, also i add character tags as i go, because mirror universe, in relation to that but you know mirror universe, non con because mirror universe but not violence, past gabe & kat, there will be blood - Freeform, took away archive tag because overkill but definitely dubious consent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2019-08-03 19:19:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 32,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16331921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JunoInferno/pseuds/JunoInferno
Summary: In one universe, Gabriel Lorca is a Starfleet captain with the simple goal of making It through the Klingon War alive and home to his family. In another universe, Gabriel Lorca is hell bent on taking over the Terran Empire. When the two switch places, they'll need to pass as the other to achieve their goals. Can Gabe survive in the Terran Empire without violating his principles? Can Lorca pass himself off as a caring human being? Let's see what the fortune cookie says...





	1. Every exit is an entrance to new experiences...

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there. This isn't quite my first Star Trek fic, it is the first one I've published and the first one I've written since I was a teenager. Not my first fic if you have a need for some Doctor Who, Once Upon A Time or Victoria fic. I have literally no reason why I wrote this, but hopefully somebody likes it. Please let me know what you think and happy reading!
> 
> A housekeeping note: the chapter titles are going to be from fortune cookies if you were wondering. Prime Lorca will be referred to as Gabe, Mirror Lorca will be Lorca because I have found people like distinctions with that sort of thing.

  
“Warp over colonies, that’s what we are!”

Gabriel Lorca looked up at the man. The governor had been ranting for the better part of an hour as he led them through the colony marketplace.

“Excuse me?”

“We’re not important, we don’t have dilithium mines, we don’t make starship components-”

Gabe nodded. “Governor Grewal-”

“Our fate decided by people who live three days away on warp! Meanwhile, the Klingons could invade any day! Then where will we be?”

“Well, that’s why the Buran is here, we’re on patrol in this system-”

“One starship! Is that all we’re worth to the Federation?!”

“Resources have to be allocated-”

“This is just what happened on Tarsus IV!”

Gabe straightened up. The young science officer with him was a Brit name Addy Kent. She looked quizzically between the two men.

“I know what happened on Tarsus IV,” said Gabe. “I was there.” 

“Earth man, what do you know about it?!”

The governor marched away muttering to himself in a long line of Urdu.

“Productive conversation,” said Addy.

Gabe shrugged. “He wants to rant, let him rant. God knows I want to.”

“About what?”

“Well, I should be on leave still, for one thing. Then Michael Burnham had other ideas and two days at home was all I got...”

“I sympathize. I had finally booked my trip to Risa. I only got to go to my grandfather’s for tea.”

He walked over to a stall displaying jewelry with gems indigenous to the colony. He held up a bracelet.

“It doesn’t go with the uniform,” Addy offered.

“It’s Letty’s birthday. I haven’t had a chance to get her a present.”

“And how old is Mrs. Lorca?”

“Thirty-nine.”

Addy frowned. “Wait, wasn’t she thirty-nine last year?”

“Yes.”

“And here I thought humanity was past obsession over aging.”

“How old are you, Lieutenant?”

“Twenty-six.”

He nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like something a twenty-six year old would say.”

“Why is she worried? She’s still very fetching. I’d-”

Gabe looked back at the lieutenant. “Yes, I am aware of how fetching my wife is.”

“Then why don’t you tell her that instead of going on with the lie about her age?”

“And now you sound like someone who’s never been married.” He looked back at the merchant and pointed at the necklace. “I’ll take this one.”

He took the necklace and put it in the zipper pocket of his uniform pants. They walked further down the market.

“By all estimates, the colony has only enough supplies to maintain a month’s siege...” said Addy. “Less if Federation supply lines get cut off before then.’

“Well, their shields won’t hold up to a month of Klingon siege so maybe we shouldn’t worry...” said Gabe, watching as the people milled about their regular business. “Maybe we should start talking about evacuation.”

Addy shook her head. “I mentioned it in passing. The locals nearly strung me up.”

Gabe tsked as he watched some children play ball. “It’s practically negligence to raise your kids this close to the Klingon border.”

“Did you send your wife a comm?”

“What?”

“It’s her birthday. Your gift won’t be on time, but did you send a comm?”

“Shit.” He reached in his other pocket. “Give me ten minutes and we’ll go back to the shuttle.”

“Aye, Captain.”

Gabe walked away from the crowd, pulling out the small video transmitter that he carried. The idea was that all captains carried one for when it was necessary to have face-to-face conversations when a viewscreen wasn't available, but he figured it was his prerogative to use it to send quick comms home.

Besides, the admirals sure liked to pull out the holo-communicator at every opportunity.

He found a pretty enough vantage point with less noise on the bridge overlooking the city’s river and held up the video transmitter.

“Letty, happy birthday!” He smiled. “You just get more beautiful each year. Sorry I’m not there. I hope someone’s taking you out tonight, though. Just promise me you won’t stay at home watching Orion reality shows.”

Gabe paused. Always terrible to have a one-way conversation.

“I love you. I love the kids. Kiss Emmy and Jacob for me. Hopefully, Jacob will have taken a bath first and yes, I will work on that first thing when I get home. Just set the computer to turn on the irrigation system while he’s in the yard for now.”

His communicator chirped.

“Gotta go.”

Gabe balanced sending off the comm and getting out his communicator.

“Lorca. Go ahead.”

His first officer, Alexandra Nori came spoke. “Captain, we were detecting several warp signatures but that have disappeared.”

“Klingon.”

“Uncertain.”

“Well, it’s not like three Starfleet ships would have just disappeared-”

“Commander! Klingon scout ship!”

“What are you waiting for? Blow it out of the sky, Lieutenant!,” his XO shouted.

A moment passed as Lorca waited anxiously, listening to the frenzy happening on the bridge without him.

“Nori, report!”

“Klingon scout destroyed, Captain.”

“Yeah, but big brother will be on his way. Beam me up.”

“Captain, the ion storm, it’ll be safer to take the shuttle-”

“We don’t have time for that and we’ll be sitting ducks anyway. Beam me up, that’s an order.”

“Aye, Captain.”

The transporter energized and he began to feel dizzy.

He was holding someone’s hand.

Michael Burnham?

She fell away and he found himself in the transporter room.

Only it wasn’t.

In the mirror- that also didn’t belong in the transporter room- he saw he was in different clothes. Black leather, gold armor, medals, gauntlets.

Nori was waiting also dressed in the ridiculous armor. She and the transporter chief gave him some kind of salute. He mirrored it back.

They were staring. Was this a dream? A hallucination?

Was he dead?

“Status report,” he said.

“We lost Burnham, sir.” Nori glared at the frightened transporter chief. “And the Shenzhou is on to us.”

Gabe supposed he might as well say something.

“Well, let’s get the hell out of here then.” 


	2. The greatest danger could be your stupidity...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small bit of housekeeping, I'll be alternating Prime and Mirror by chapter in case you were wondering.

  
**_“Gabriel!”_ **

Burnham’s cries awoke him and he found himself inside a tube of blinding light.

He began banging his fist on the shell of it, making it rattle.

“Captain Lorca! Captain Lorca, sir!”

That was when Lorca remembered that he had not just been on the shuttle.

He had been back to the Buran, but not his Buran. He had a ridiculous armor-less uniform and no gauntlets.

But the ship was under attack and rather than risk the consequences, he had gone with it.

Klingon savages. No matter, but it turned out this Buran was almost as useless as his uniform.

The shields had failed. The Klingons transported aboard, going deck by deck.

It left one choice. Execute the self-destruct sequence.

He could not believe Nori had argued with him. These people couldn’t fight them, they certainly couldn’t withstand going back to Qo’Nos. What did she think would happen there?

In the end, he hadn’t needed her and so he went to the escape pod.

“Captain Lorca, please! We need you to calm down, sir!”

He looked up, finally realizing that if he was being addressed like this, he wasn’t being tortured, the light in his eyes aside. There was some kind of intercom system in the tube.

“Where am I?”

“Starfleet Medical, sir.”

“San Francisco?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How the hell did I get here?”

“The Valiant found your escape pod.”

He must have been picked up. They must have thought he was this other Gabriel Lorca.

He could work with this. They would have to give this other Lorca another ship and then it was just a matter of using it to get home and finding a way to get aboard the Charon, free the others who were no doubt hostages by now, he could take it deck by deck-

“Would you like me to get your wife, sir?”

“My what?”

There was a pause on the other end.

“Your wife. She’s outside?”

This other Gabriel Lorca had a wife.

That was an annoying development.

“Right, she should probably stay outside. She doesn’t like... small spaces.”

He realized how stupid that sounded.

“But you’re the one in the small space, sir?”

“She doesn’t like seeing other people in small spaces.”

That did not sound any better he quickly realized.

There was an even longer pause.

“Okay, one of the porters is just going to get Dr. McCoy, sir...”

“That’s really not...” This was not going well. “I think I’ll just go back to sleep, okay?”

“Get McCoy,” said the voice on the other end. “Probably brain-damaged.”

“I can hear you!,” he spat.

“Oh, sorry, let me fix that.”

The voice went away, totally cutting the intercom.

He had not very long to try and figure out who Gabriel Lorca’s wife was.

It was then he finally realized there was a latinum ring on his left hand. He raised it to his face for a closer look. Nothing on the outside.

He took it off and peered inside.

Letty.

No. No idea.

Okay, back to being unconscious.

He played at it as he could hear sounds from outside the tube. The damn light went off and the lid of the tube lifted.

“You said he was conscious,” a man's voice with a southern accent said tersely.

“Well, he did say he wanted a nap.”

“His time was nearly up anyway, take the Captain back to his room.”

It was a murmur of medical jargon as he felt himself being pulled up and put onto a stretcher. He was definitely being moved.

“You said he responded to the light?”

“Yes, I think it was hurting his eyes. He kept them closed afterwards.”

“Okay, we’ll need to get Doctor Goldblum for a consult. Have we done a neural scan?”

“Yes, Doctor, but no signs of damage,” a female voice added.

“Let me see.” A moment passed. “They don’t match the previous scans on file.”

“This one was dated over fifteen years ago, Doctor.”

“Damn captains thinking they don’t need a standard physical...”

“Doctor McCoy!,” another female voice shouted.

McCoy sighed. “Somebody get a phaser and shoot me.”

“She’s been here since six,” the female with the doctor said.

“Mrs. Lorca and Admiral Cornwell, you’re back.”

Lorca was moved in a room and a bed.

“We heard he was conscious.”

Okay, that voice who irritated him no end was definitely Katrina Cornwell.

“Yes, he woke up in the oxygen tube, disoriented-”

The other female was at McCoy. “Were you going to mention that?”

“If I had a chance-”

“I had asked to be advised of any change in his condition,” said Kat. “You can consider that an order.”

“Yes, Admiral.”

“But how is he?”

“We don’t know yet.”

She scoffed. “Well, thank God for Starfleet.”

She was annoyed. She sounded more familiar when she was annoyed.

“I suppose that’s intended for me,” said Kat.

“Gee, how did you work that out?”

“Gabe wouldn’t have wanted you to worry unnecessarily-”

“Please stop presuming to tell me what my husband wants.”

“I’ve known him longer than you have.”

“Oh, let’s do that again!

McCoy spoke again. “Admiral Cornwell, Mrs. Lorca, we’ve been over this. You can stop it or I’ll have you removed.”

“You will do fuck all to me,” said Mrs. Lorca.

With anger, she was nearly recognizable.

No.

No way.

Curiosity finally won out over spycraft and Lorca opened his eyes.

It was her, same brown eyes and chestnut hair, though this one wore it longer.

Hawthorne?

“Gabe.”

He realized he had said it out loud as she rushed over to him.

Fucking Hawthorne Cornwell. One of the daughters of the Terran Empire’s most important families, Kat's cousin, their great-grandmother was the Emperor’s enforcer on Earth. At one time, their families were keen on a match and he even thought he might be.

Then she disappeared.

He hadn’t seen her in eleven years.

Kat looked at McCoy with deep concern. “No one has called her Hawthorne in years.”

Letty.

Did Hawthorne have a middle name? That had never come up.

“Sorry. Letty,” he said quickly.

She shook her head. “It’s okay.”

Letty embraced him tightly, letting out a deep breath.

“You’re home,” she said.

It then occurred to Lorca that he had most likely missed his chance to say he had amnesia.

 


	3. “Depart not from the path which fate has you assigned.”

 

  
Two days.

Gabe had been on leave two days.

Oh, he had such big plans. He always did when he was on leave and there was never enough time no matter how much there was. He was going to take the kids to that big water park in Brazil, then work on getting Jacob to bathe without throwing a temper tantrum. Emmy had soccer tryouts coming up, he was going to work with her. Then he had promised Letty he would get that jackass from down the street to stop asking if Jacob could join his kid’s Pareeses Square team and get the other jackass from the other side to put up a privacy hedge.

Then he had booked a trip to Havana for he and Letty to try to talk her into having another baby.

He had barely gotten into an Orion reality show and gone to talk to the guy about the privacy hedge when the Battle of the Binary Stars happened.

Thank you, Michael Burnham.

And oddly enough here in this hellhole Michael Burnham was also a part of his latest predicament.

Burnham was the Emperor’s daughter and his counterpart had somehow seduced her to his side.

Treason instead of mutiny then.

Speaking of seduction, there seemed to be a half dozen female crew members who seemed intent on helping him through his grief about Burnham, plus Ellen Landry who remained in the executive officer spot aboard the Buran.

Which was just great. He had gotten her promoted and transferred in his universe because Letty thought Landry had a thing for him and it was just easier.

Letty. Emmy. Jacob.

He didn’t even have a picture of them. 

Then there was the slight matter of having to worry about his crew stabbing him all the time. Landry had gotten one, Nori another, he had to face off the last guy then he was dragged off to the agonizer.

No wonder they were trying to stab their commanding officers.

Gabe knew his luck was going to run out on that soon enough. He would have to decide if he was willing to kill someone to stay alive here.

How many were worth his getting home?

He hoped his own crew would find him soon enough.

So after a few weeks, he Landry summoned him to the bridge and he hoped it wasn’t a mutiny.

She shook her head. “You won’t believe who it is.”

He looked to the viewscreen. It was a small Terran Imperial shuttle. Not unarmed- everything was armed here- but no match for the Buran.

“Viewscreen on.”

Kat.

“Kat.”

“Hello, Gabriel.”

From what he understood from the computer files, Katrina Cornwell was a high-ranking officer in the Terran Empire, decidedly on the Emperor’s side.

“Fire torpedoes, Captain?,” asked Landry.

Kat rolled her eyes.

“Come to bring me in?,” asked Gabe.

“Not exactly. I’ve come to bring you out of the wilderness.”

He sighed. “Want to be more specific?”

She punched on a computer terminal in the shuttle. “I’m giving you my shuttle’s command codes. Bring us in so we can talk.”

“Bring her in,” said Gabe.

“What?,” demanded Landry.

“You got a better plan, Commander? Maybe you’d like to spend some time thinking up one in the agonizer?”

He saw Nori put her hand on her dagger.

Landry looked pissed. “Bringing in the shuttle.”

He made his way to the shuttle bay with a particularly ferocious looking security team, no contest for the three Kat had with her.

Kat. It was almost nice to see a familiar face.

Of course there were a lot of familiar faces on his crew and he was still trying to work out a way for them to not stab him.

Kat smiled as she stepped out of the shuttle.

“Lorca.”

She motioned and one of her guards brought forth a woman and tossed her to the floor of the shuttle bay. A blonde with her face bloodied.

“May I introduce Savannah Cornwell?”

“Relative?”

“By marriage.”

Gabe noticed a stump where the woman’s left ring finger had been. Kat caught him.

“Recently divorced.” She pressed her boot against the woman’s hand, causing her to cry out. “So sad when a marriage dies.”

“And what does this have to do with me?”

“Well, Savannah was until just recently married to my cousin Hawthorne. You remember Hawthorne?”

Letty. Letty was here? And she didn’t hate her first name?

Apparently, it showed.

“Shit, Lorca, I didn’t know you still cared.”

“I don’t,” he quickly amended.

“Well, that’s neither here no there because today I care. Nana cares.”

Shit. Nana was here? Did Nana hate him here, too?

“Nana has authorized me on behalf of the Unified Terran House of Cornwell-Hawthorne-Carter-Kardashian-Feinstein to make a pledge of our support.”

“And why would you do that? Go against the Emperor?”

“We never disagreed with your ideology, Lorca, just your methods. If you and Hawthorne had been married, we would be allies already. The Emperor thinks she can be above the great Terran houses, not consult them, never protect our interests...”

“And that has what to do with this...” he motioned at Savannah.

“To the point, I was making, this woman has been a spy in our midst. For the Emperor.” She turned. “Tell him.”

“The Emperor made me-”

“Oh, take some responsibility,” said Kat.

“She told me I had to marry Hawthorne, to keep her close because she was going to need a weapon against you.”

Gabe tried to catch up. “A weapon?”

“Savannah handed Hawthorne over to the Emperor just as soon as the Emperor sent Burnham to find you. An eye for an eye.”

Gabe flicked his eyes back to Kat. “An eye for an eye?”

Kat looked at Savannah. “You want to tell him or should I?”

Savannah shook her head vigorously. Kat approached Gabe with a small PADD. He looked down at it.

Emmy.

“Her name is Emmy. She’s ten. Congratulations.” Kat looked with disgust at Savannah. “This bitch has pretended to be her mother, pretended to be Hawthorne’s wife the whole time.”

Gabe stared at the picture. The other Lorca had an Emmy and if he was following, he didn’t even know about her.

“I can show you the DNA profile if you don’t believe me.”

“No, I believe you.”

Kat raised an eyebrow.

“She has my eyes.”

He remembered when she had been born and the Vulcan doctor had placed her in his arms.

He was adopted. Nobody had ever looked like him before.

Kat looked. “So she does.”

“Is there a reason you’re just telling me this now?” He tried to resume an expression of annoyance.

“Other than the Emperor holding her hostage after your failed coup attempt?”

“Why didn’t someone tell me?”

“Well, whatever you did to Hawthorne, she wanted nothing to do with you even though a child would have surely hastened the marriage contract. So, we respected her wishes and bided our time.”

“Until such time that it was useful?”

“If your most recent coup attempt had succeeded, then, yes. Burnham probably would have insisted on her own offspring ruling, but we had planned on crossing that bridge when we came to it. If that was your plan. If it was your plan to be Emperor, well, we had an heiress waiting in the wings for you. If your plan was to install Burnham, well, let’s just say no child of Michael Burnham’s would ever be Emperor.”

These people were seriously screwed up.

“What is it you’re offering?”

“Free Hawthorne and Emmy. Nana has altered the previous terms of your marriage contract much to your satisfaction-”

“You just said Hawthorne wanted nothing to do with me.”

Kat frowned. “That time has passed. Think about it. You’ll have the legitimacy of a great Terran house, a wife of breeding and an heiress in place.”

She was waiting for him to refuse. He could tell.

Was the other Lorca the kind of man who would refuse?

In the end, it didn’t matter because he wasn't.

“Do you know where she is?,” he asked.

Kat smiled. “Everything is on the PADD. Those security codes will only be good for seventy-two hours so you need to be quick.”

“You’re not coming?”

“How would it look to the Emperor if I disappeared just now?”

“Right...”

Kat walked back to the shuttle, motioning for her guards to follow her.

They left Savannah on the floor.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with her?,” he asked.

“Hawthorne will know what to do with her,” Kat promised as she disappeared into the shuttle.

Gabe looked at his new prisoner and the PADD with Emmy's face on it.

He was going to save her. He wondered if the other Lorca would do the same. At least it wouldn't come to that, there was no way he was passing as him back home. 


	4. "You will move to a wonderful new home within the year..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I think if Kelvin Kirk can listen to the Beastie Boys, I can use Lady Gaga lyrics.

Settling into the life of this Gabriel Lorca was not as easy as he would have hoped.

For one thing, there was Letty. Hawthorne would have left him by now, but she hung around most of the day, listening studiously as the doctors gave pronouncements about his supposedly ruined eyesight. She worked on a computer while he pretended to sleep. Mostly he couldn’t figure out how to keep the conversation going when Letty would say something like, “Do you remember when we took Emmy to the lake on Tarsus IV?” They had years of shared experiences and he didn’t know anything. Then there was the problem of the actual children. Letty kept asking to bring them. Which was a bad idea because he hadn't liked a kid since he was one and he knew nothing about these kids. When Letty left, he tried to get into Gabe’s personal files to see what he could glean.

Emmy. She was the oldest. Ten. Born on a starship, went with Gabe on his assignment at Tarsus IV. They had the same food crisis that the one in his universe did, but the governor had killed half the population. Kodos had just let them starve to death in his world. Letty and Emmy had never accompanied him on another assignment. They set up house and Gabe Lorca continued in Starfleet. Jacob had never even been off world.

That and the photo Letty brought for his bedside were all he knew.

“Good news,” Kat announced as she came in his room. “You’re going home.”

“What?” He shifted in his hospital bed. “No-”

“So you changed your mind on the operation?”

“No-”

“Then you’re going home.”

“There’s a war on. I need another assignment.”

Kat approached closer. “You need to go home. You haven’t passed the official physical or the psych evaluation-”

“Fine. Give it to me.”

She sat on the edge of the bed. “Gabe. Tell me what’s really going on. Maybe I can help.”

He had read up on Kat, too. Years aiming to be a counselor until she had changed over to the command track. The Kat in his world had taken an interest in psychology, but never to help anyone.

“Nothing is wrong.”

Her face turned severe. “Really? Because the Gabriel Lorca I know would have seen his kids by now and he certainly would not argue with me if I told him to go home to them.”

The door opened. Emmy stepped through. Kat stepped up and walked to the girl.

“Emmy, hi.”

“Hi, Kat.”

Kat leaned down to give the girl a hug.

“How’s school?”

“Okay.”

“Really? Your mom said you were having some trouble with a friend of yours?” She was gentler than Lorca would have expected. 

“No.”

“Okay.” She motioned. “Go see your dad.”

Kat left, leaving Emmy to walk towards him.

His eyes. Technically, Gabe Lorca’s eyes. He hadn’t noticed in the picture. She had the same eyes, the same dark hair. He was adopted- after the Terran fashion- no one had ever looked like him before.

“Hi, Daddy.”

“Hi.”

“I’m sorry about your ship.”

Before he could work out the right response to that, the door burst open. Jacob barreled through and jumped on to him.

“Daddy!”

“Hi,” he said as he was sure his internal organs were being crushed. 

“Jacob, get off your father,” said Letty.

He reluctantly got down. Letty held out a bag.

“I’ve brought you some clothes to wear.”

He took it. “Thanks.”

“Did you bring me anything?,” asked Jacob.

“Don’t be stupid,” said Emmy.

“Emmy, don’t call your brother stupid,” said Letty.

“But he is-”

“And Jacob.” Letty turned to face him. “Gabe, mind helping me?”

Lorca was dumbstruck. Help what? Help Emmy? Help Jacob? Which one was supposed to be right? He had been an only child, no question of who his mothers preferred. Who did Gabe prefer? Emmy was oldest, but Jacob was the son. Maybe Gabe felt a special connection with him? Or was it Emmy because he seemed to have spent more time with her?

The kids stared at him. Letty’s expression became one of genuine concern and he realized he was spending too much time trying to work this out. 

“I-“

“Are you sure McCoy’s not sending you home too soon?,” she asked.

Lorca wished he could have hid out here longer, but he knew his best chance at getting a ship was going with Letty and playing house. That’s what Gabe would do.

“Daddy, please come home,” whined Jacob.

“I’m coming home, bud, okay?”

“Okay, see?,” prodded Letty. “Let’s let Daddy get dressed and we’ll head back to the transporter station.” 

“Can we see the sea lions at the pier?”

“No, we’re going home,” Letty repeated.

It was one thing to find himself in Lorca’s uniform, another to dress as a civilian. He thought they fit a little looser and they had a different sort of smell on them. A soft shirt, some woven trousers and shoes.

No armor on any of it. Not a knife.   
The nurse brought him the things he had been found with, pointing out a bag she’d placed the things from his pockets in. He went through with curiosity. A video comm link, a cameo off the chain- he remembered his mom had one like this from her family dating back to the days of Columbus or so the family legend went. This one had pictures of Letty and the kids. Then a necklace in a paper bag? What did he have a necklace for?

“Ready?,” asked Letty.

“Yeah,” he lied. 

* * *

It was a short walk from Starfleet Medical to the public transporter station. Jacob insisted on holding his hand which was just as well otherwise he ran away. They waited their turn in line behind commuters travelling to points all around Earth-something else he wasn’t used to- and travelled instantaneously to Charleston.

  
Which was a surprise since he forgot to look up where they lived. Hawthorne was from Charleston, she and Kat could trace their ancestors back to the time South Carolina was a colony. In the Terran world, it made them powerful and formidable. His mothers always liked to remind him a well connected wife would be a boon to his ambitions. Kat had been suggested and while they got on well, he knew her ambitions would eventually come into conflict with his own. He had turned his eye to Hawthorne. Smart, pretty, never boring. When she left him, he had forgotten the whole marriage thing. Until Burnham and though he did have affection for her, he was never sure it would supersede his own ambitions.

  
All Letty’s ubiquitous family meant here was that they had run into a cousin of hers at the transporter station and he’d nearly blown the whole thing.

“I know, he looks so different,” said Letty. “He’s been trying to act like he didn’t go to Io for a nose job, but everyone can tell.”

She offered to let him drive home after that and he feigned frailty, but of course he had no damn clue where the house was.

Nor would he have a clue where anything was inside the house. 

It turned out to be in Harleston Village, one of the ancient parts of the city. The house was white with verandas on both floors and lots of plants. It seemed… quiet. If he had ever made it to something like this in his universe, the house would have been bigger and probably part of Hawthorne’s family compound, slaves all over. 

As soon as he stepped inside the lights lowered. 

“Better?,” asked Letty. “I programmed them, tied it to a biosensor, it controls the lights and the blinds.”

“Thanks.”

“Do you want anything specific for dinner?”

“What?”

Letty shrugged. “First dinner home is usually your choice.”

He looked at the kids. “What do you guys want?”

Emmy looked up at Letty. “Can we order from Yang’s?”

Letty looked back to him. “Yang’s?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Yang’s.”

“I’ll pull up the menu on the viewscreen,” said Letty.

“I don’t want Yang’s,” moaned Jacob.

“Then you can have cereal,” said Letty.

“Daddy!”

Letty snorted. “Your father can’t save you-”

Wait, Lorca knew this. Sometimes it happened with crews, they would keep going around to officers until they got the right answer.

“You’ll do what Mom says.”

“Mimi says I can do what I want-”

“I don’t care what Mimi says,” Lorca snapped.

Jacob and Emmy looked at him with wide-eyes.

Shit. Who was Mimi?

 

* * *

 

By the time bathtime was over, Lorca definitely knew who Gabe’s favorite was. Jacob pouted through dinner, physically fought him in the bath and proceeded to jump on his bed for the better part of an hour.

He was fairly certain Jacob was the reason Gabe was on assignment in deep space. 

He left Jacob’s room, exhausted, wondering why children didn’t have agonizers, even in his universe. 

“Daddy?”

He turned to see Emmy standing in her doorway.

“Were you going to say good night to me?”

Whatever she did couldn’t be worse, could it?

“Sure.”

He followed her into the bedroom, the bed and walls were a warm peach color. A projector of stars lit up the ceiling. She laid down in the bed and expectantly looked up at him. Sighing, he pulled up the covers. 

“Did you want a story?”

“No.”

“Okay…” He sat down in a white rocking chair by the bed. On the night table was a picture of Gabe holding his new daughter.

Bliss. It was bliss he was experiencing. There was nothing in the universe but the two of them.

He felt a little jealous.

“Am I too old for you to sing?”

He wished she was. 

“No.”

“Will you sing the one your mom sang?” 

Here went nothing.

“A dormir mi nina, a dormir mi amor...”

“No.”

That ended quickly. 

“No?”

“Not the one Abuelita sang. The other one.”

Aw, hell. He could remember Ofelia singing to him. Ramona, though. She did like to sing. Classical stuff from the early twenty first century…

Emmy stared.

What could it be? He was blowing it.

“Did you forget?”

“Maybe just the start,” he said grateful for a shot at it.

“There ain’t no reason you and me should be alone tonight,” she began.

“Tonight yeah baby tonight, yeah...” Lorca smiled back as Emmy smiled at him. “But I got a reason that you should take me home tonight...”

That one? Emmy’s smile said yes.

“I got a reason that you should take me home tonight, I need a man that makes it wrong when it’s so right…”

“You never sang that before.”

Okay, possibly a little inappropriate on that line. He smiled, pretending at feigning ignorance while actually being ignorant. “No? What do I sing?”

She smiled. She thought this was a game. “I need an Emmy to go catching all the stars tonight...”

That wasn’t horrible. He tried to pick up. “Tonight, yeah, baby, right on the limit’s where we know we both belong tonight...”

“Alright, alright!,” Emmy chimed in.

* * *

 

He came out of the room and walked straight into Letty.

“She let you sing to her?,” she asked.

Lorca shrugged. “Yeah.”

“What? That’s been two years?”

“Something like that.”

“Coming to bed?,” she asked.

“I’m not tired.”

“We can talk,” Letty offered. “If there’s something you need to talk about.”

“No, I...” He sighed. He really needed to find out more about Gabe Lorca and he couldn’t do that with Letty over his shoulder. “I just need to think. I still can’t believe I’m here.”

That must have had a ring of truth to it as Letty nodded, seeming to accept it.

“Okay.” She leaned up to kiss him. “You scared us. Don’t do it again.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

She retreated into the bedroom and Lorca headed downstairs.

He found a bottle of whiskey in the kitchen and took the cap off, taking a gulp. Thinking better of it, he went back for a glass. Kat would probably know by morning if he was caught devouring an entire bottle of whiskey on his own.

The house was all whites and grays. The opposite of any Terran house aside from the lack of security. It was decorated with family photos.

His pocket buzzed and he realized he still had the video comm in it. He had hoped to find something useful about Starfleet in it. Another viewscreen displayed that it was syncing and he tapped on it.

A video appeared of the other Gabriel Lorca.

“Letty, happy birthday-”

Shit. When was her birthday? Had he gotten a present? Lorca put that aside to look at what files were kept on there. It looked to be things Gabe had uploaded from here. He clicked on one.

“There ain’t a reason you and me should be alone tonight...”

It was Gabe, on a starship. He was only half-dressed in his uniform missing his boots and jacket as he held who Lorca presumed to be a very young Emmy.

“But I got a reason that you should take me home tonight... I need a man who makes it right when it’s so wrong tonight...”

The younger Gabe paused.

“I can’t believe your grandma sang that line the entire time...” He rocked the baby. “And you don’t need no man, do you? Daddy will kill him. Or girl. Person. You just let me know.”

Emmy cried.

“No, no, no, we can’t wake Mommy. She’s going to lose it, I’ll sing, I’ll sing.” He bounced her. “Right on the limit’s where we know we both belong tonight...”

Lorca wondered just what the fuck he had wandered into. 


	5. "Don't hesitate. Go after what you seek."

What the fuck had he gotten himself into?

First, was the little matter of getting to this nightmare. Nori had accompanied him with a small team of men to the facility Kat had given him the specs for.

Then was the fact that when Kat gave him the codes she hadn’t mentioned this place would be holding every enemy of the Empire there was.

Which was not good for a man who shared a face with one of the most notorious Terrans there was.

Kat’s information was great at getting him in. She was a little thin on details. They used one of the codes to disable the exterior doors and disabling the alarm system, easily getting past the Emperor’s guards. So when Gabe punched in the code that he thought would release Hawthorne and Emmy, it opened every cell door.

“Damn it...”

Nori looked at him as all manner of Klingon, Breen and Romulan- or possibly just pissed off Vulcans- came streaming out of the cells. “What do we do with them?”

“I don’t know, work something out.”

He started down the corridor, having to use his phaser rifle a few times along the way. He was the only one on his team with the phaser set to stun. He wondered if that was a mistake.  

“Emmy! Emmy!”

He realized one door hadn’t opened.

It was unlocked. He stepped inside.

Emmy sat cowering in the corner. Her eyes flashed in fear at the sight of him.

“Emmy-”

“Please, don’t! I just want to go home! Why can’t I go home?!”

He approached her slowly, hands outstretched.

“Hey, it’s okay.” He realized how wrong the gauntlets looked and chucked them off to the side. “Hey, Emmy. I’m here to get you and Mommy out. Okay?”

She looked at him with suspicion, sending a knife straight to Gabe’s heart. “You know my mom?”

“Yeah.” He approached and she seemed to back even further into the wall. He leaned down. “Emmy, look in my eyes.”

She shook her head.

“Have you seen them before?”

“No.”

“Yes, you have. Every time you look in a mirror.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We can talk about that later, okay? You can trust me. Let’s go get Mommy.”

She screeched and he snapped his head back to see what of the freed Klingons taking a swing at him. He was knocked back, losing his phaser as he slammed into the wall. 

Suddenly, the Klingon fell to the ground which was a real surprise seeing as he hadn’t done anything.

He saw Emmy holding the phaser.

“Okay, okay. Give it to me.”

She frowned. “Did I do it wrong?”

“You did fine. Just give me the phaser.”

She did as he asked and he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

“Come on.” He picked her up and this seemed a foreign concept to her. He briefly reflected that Letty didn’t really carry the kids after they were in primary school, that was one of his many dad jobs to carry a tired, cranky or sleeping child. He had to instruct this Emmy to hold on to him.

Of course, his Emmy didn’t know how to fire a phaser.

He went out into the hallway and rejoined his Terran crew. He wondered how it was that they could seemingly fight others so well for him when he couldn’t count on their loyalty onboard. Gabe was just grateful it was so.

“Sir! This way!,” Nori shouted.

He made his way to the room Nori had pointed out, shooting along the way. He walked into a room lined with agonizers.

“Mom!,” Emmy cried out. 

Letty!

No, Gabe quickly reminded himself. Hawthorne. This woman had her own life.

“It’s okay, honey.” He put her down and walked over to the controls as Nori kept watch. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Emmy distracted away by the sound of phaser fire.

“Emmy! Get back here!”

She did as he asked and he took a second away from disabling the controls to take her hand and put it on the hem of his coat. She took her hand down.

“No,” he said, putting it back. “That is how far I want you to go.”

A quick glance revealed that this was a completely foreign concept to her.

The agonizer finally went off. Hawthorne collapsed against the glass. Gabe rushed to the door, Hawthorne fell out in a heap as he opened it and he caught her.

“Mom. Mom!”

Hawthorne slowly opened her eyes. She slowly looked up at Gabe.

“Are you fucking kidding me?,” she asked.

“Yeah. No.”

Hawthorne stood.

“Can you walk?”

“I can walk. I need a phaser.”

He handed her one.

She shook her head. “Transport dampening fields here are-”

“Yeah, I know,” said Gabe. He picked up Emmy again as Hawthorne frowned at him.

“She’s ten, she can fire a phaser-”

“Uh, no.” No matter what he did today, he was not going to let a ten year old shoot people. Well, other than that one and he didn’t have a say in it, but there would be no children firing phasers from here on.

They fought their way out an easier task than he anticipated because once the prisoners were freed, the guards were focused on them. 

They got in the shuttle and he let Nori and one of the other Terrans take the controls. He knelt in front of Emmy.

“Are you okay?”

“She’s fine-”

“I’d rather hear it from her,” he said tersely. He looked back at her. “Are you hurt?”

“No.”

He sighed, taking the bench across the shuttle. Hawthorne put her arm around Emmy.

“Are you worried?,” Hawthorne asked Emmy. 

Emmy didn’t answer.

“Well, don’t be. I’m going to take care of everything, okay?”

She looked back at Gabe, displeased to find him still there.

“Burnham didn’t come?,” asked Hawthorne. “Or did she run home to Mama?”

“Burnham’s dead.”

She tilted her head. He got the feeling there weren’t going to be condolences.

“Good.”

“Good?”

“What? Your girlfriend didn’t tell you she visited me?” 

How was he supposed to interpret that? Lorca was just using Burnham, wasn’t he? He supposed Burnham wouldn’t have known that even if he was. What had Burnham said to Hawthorne?

What had Lorca said about Hawthorne to Burnham? 

“Well, she shouldn’t have.”

“No. She shouldn’t have. Not that it mattered...”

She didn’t finish the thought. He supposed she was pondering the fact her wife had betrayed her.

“How did you find me?,” she asked.

“Kat.”

“Kat. And what made it worth your while?”

He motioned at Emmy. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this in front of her.”

“Don’t tell me what to do with my kid-”

“Our kid.” It came out before he could remind himself to stay neutral in this. Hawthorne looked stricken. He had no choice to carry through with it even though Emmy looked panicked.

Hawthorne stood. She walked away from Emmy, towards the door of the shuttle. Gabe got up and followed.

“Did Kat tell you that?,” she hissed.

He supposed he could stay neutral, but then what if Hawthorne was suspicious of that? No, the safest bet was to play his doppelganger as if he had a kid he didn’t know existed for ten years and was pissed about it.

It wasn’t hard to fathom for a man who hadn’t seen his own family in months.

“Kat didn’t have to once I saw a picture.”

“Don’t expect me to believe you came out of some sense of paternal obligation.”

“It doesn’t matter why I came-”

“What did Kat promise?”

Gabe decided he had to answer that. “What Nana promised.”

Hawthorne cringed. “Fuck.”

“Five minutes to the Buran,” Nori announced. 

He turned back to Nori. “Tell the Buran I want us ready to leave the moment we land in the shuttle bay.”

“Fuck,” Hawthorne repeated.

“Do you know another word?”

“They had this planned, didn’t they?”

“Your getting kidnapped?”

“No, even Nana isn’t that ruthless, but I should have known once you got yourself a breath away from being Emperor...” She looked up at him. “That they would have a plan for this.”

“Well, I’m not exactly a breath away now...”

“Oh, don’t be stupid, once people know the Emperor killed Burnham nobody will believe her. If she’ll go after her own daughter, who is actually safe? No one else is actually in a position to take advantage of that.”

Gabe didn’t like the sound of this because it was starting to sound like he was actually going to stage a coup. “I don’t know if that’s a great idea-”

“Kat didn’t happen to mention Savannah, did she?”

“Yeah, she’s on my ship. Kat said you would know what to do with her.” 

“I do.” She looked at Nori. “Hi, pretty girl with the sword? What’s your name?”

“Nori.”

“Nori. Would you have them bring my very ex-wife to the shuttle bay when we get there?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Hawthorne looked at Gabe. “Where are your gauntlets?”

“I ditched them.”

She looked at another Terran. “Could I borrow yours?”

The befuddled guard gave them over. Hawthorne reached in his jacket and took his dagger. She put the tip against Gabe’s chin as he held his breath.

She sighed. “Damn you and your pretty face.”

She took the dagger away.

“What are you doing?”

“Knew it from the picture?”

“Yeah, she’s got my eyes.”

“And your coloring,” Hawthorne conceded. 

“But the rest belongs to you,” said Gabe.

It came out reflexively. He remembered the first time he and Letty had done that in a room in sickbay aboard the Helios. His eyes were the thing everyone pointed out when they visited. A baby aboard a starship was a rare thing, but Captain Matuzas had liked Letty and liked her computer skills even better. One infant was a small price to pay for an upgrade on the ship’s system. The memory warmed Gabe. Those were happy times.

Hawthorne looked unnerved at him and his casual assessment.

She looked away from him. “If you hurt her, I will fucking kill you.”

The shuttle landed and they were soon in the shuttle bay. He felt the ship go into warp. Hawthorne walked into the bay.

Gabe went back to Emmy as the rest of the crew disembarked.

“I want to go home.”

Gabe sympathized. “Yeah, I wish I could take you there.”

“Where are we?”

“My ship. You’ll be safe here.” He picked her up. “Come on. Are you hungry? I bet you’re hungry.”

They stepped out into the shuttle bay just as two guards dragged Savannah in.

“Hawthorne-”

Hawthorne slapped her across the face.

“Did you think you would get away with it?,” she asked.

“I had to-”

“Oh, you had to? Am I supposed to take that as an apology and take you back?”

“Please, Hawthorne, I love you.”

Gabe watched as Hawthorne drew his dagger. He wanted to stop her and he tried in vain to think of some vague reason to stop this. Kat had known this, that was why she brought her. This universe’s Gabriel Lorca would have known that.

But he couldn’t think of anything good enough or at least he couldn’t in the time he had and Hawthorne plunged the knife into Savannah’s chest. She pulled it back out, blood gushing.

“Your words are worthless to me,” said Hawthorne.

Gabe held onto Emmy, turning her head away, wondering at the effect of having her stepmother stabbed in front of her. God knew how much violence she had already witnessed in this universe.

“See, Emmy?,” asked Hawthorne as she tossed aside the bloodied borrowed gauntlets. “Savannah betrayed us and I dealt with her.”

Gabe noted that Savannah still seemed to be writhing during this teachable moment.

If he got home, he was going to tell Letty she was a goddess and never stop. 


	6. Chapter 6

“Babe, babe...”

Lorca pulled it together quick enough to realize he was in the house on this strange Earth where you need not worry about what was waiting when you awoke. He had fallen asleep on the sofa in the study watching what he could find of the Lorca family movies, trying to pick up on how to sound like Gabe Lorca.

Letty crouched down in front of him.

“You didn’t come to bed.”

“No. Sorry.” He sat up, stretching his arms.

“Okay, I need you to sneak upstairs change clothes and act like you didn’t sleep on the couch.”

“What? Why?”

“Your mothers are here. Just showed up. Transported from Louisville as soon as the station opened...” She stood. “And please, I cannot have them thinking you slept on the couch.”

Lorca was in no way following this, but he did understand that his- well Gabe’s- moms were here and this was in no way good for his purposes. He wasn’t sure what the couch had to do with anything... but he decided to take Letty’s word for it.

He went upstairs and took a quick shower, leaving the water running while he got into the computer and tried to refresh himself on the details of Gabe’s moms. He decided he had crash studied as much as he could and found some clothes.

The kitchen was in disarray, most of the contents of the cabinets brought out. Letty stood by, unable to stop the two older women as they disassembled her house.

“But we have a sonic dishwasher.”

“That can’t really work,” said Marilyn.

“You trust the food processors well enough.”

“The food processors are a marvel, a sonic dishwasher is just plain laziness.” She turned. “Gabey!”

“Mi amor!,” Ofelia chimed in.

“Baby boy!”

Then it was on. Lorca bore the full brunt of their affections.

“What are you doing here?,” he asked by way of breaking up the onslaught.

“Kat told us you were home,” said Ofelia.

“Not that your wife did.” Ramona seemed to be more displeased with Letty than her wife.

“I didn’t have to, Kat told you,” said Letty.

“And she uses that as an excuse to not speak to us,” she added.

“I am standing right here. I have been speaking to you this entire time.”

“We were just about to make some breakfast for you and the kids,” said Ramona. “But someone has locked your food processor. Could you unlock it?”

“I don’t like the food processor.” Letty looked pointedly at him.

He knew there was some significance to the look on her face.

“I like having real food,” said Lorca, hoping that would settle it.

“You look like you’ve lost weight,” Ofelia said worriedly.

“Well, I was in an escape pod, then a stasis chamber, then the hospital...”

Ramona would not be placated. “What are we going to eat if she won’t unlock the food processor?”

Letty opened another door built into the wall revealing a cold storage unit. “We have eggs-”

“Did they come from a chicken?”

“Yes, they came from a chicken.”

Ramona looked skeptical. “Where did you find a chicken?”

“My cousin raises them.”

“Of course he does,” Ofelia said under her breath.

“Does he eat them?,” asked Ramona. 

“They’re chickens.”

“That’s barbaric.”

“Well, you don’t have to eat them.”

“Gabriel, tell her not to make the kids eat animal products.”

Lorca blanked. He was guessing they didn’t eat Kelpien here, either.

“Mimi!,” Jacob shouted.

Ramona held out her hands for the boy, giving him a hug.

Shit. His mom was Mimi.

“Mimi brought you a present.”

“Cool!”

“You just-” Letty sighed.

She couldn’t stop it. Ramona handed him a long box. Jacob ripped through the paper with abandon.

“An ion bat!,” he shouted.

Letty looked at Ramona with fury. “I told you we weren’t going to let the kids play Pareeses Squares-”

“It’s just a game,” said Ofelia. “Gabriel played.”

“Yeah, Daddy played,” said Jacob.

Gabe may have. Lorca actually hadn’t. There were much better ways for upper-class Terran parents to instill toughness than organized sports. There were leagues and such, but those weren’t for people like him. They were for people who didn’t matter.

Letty seemed to agree on some level. “Gabe broke everything but his spine.”

“Gabriel, tell your wife it’s not a big deal, let the boy have some fun.”

“Gabe,” said Letty.

He was clearly going to have to demonstrate a position on this. He decided, for the sake of acting, to go with the one he agreed with.

Lorca took the box away, galling Jacob. “It’s a stupid game, not worth breaking your neck over.”

“Excuse me?,” asked Ramona.

“He’s not playing.”

Jacob looked at Lorca. “But Mimi said-”

“Is Mimi your mother?”

“No...”

“No, your mother says no and that is an end to it.” Lorca began walking out with the box.

“Gabriel, get back here!,” shouted Ramona.

Lorca made his way back to the study. Honestly, the scion of the Lorca name and these women wanted to let him play a dangerous sport?

“Hey,” said Letty. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. I just don’t want my son breaking his neck.”

“Well, I agree, but...”

“But what?”

“Usually you wait until your mothers leave to disagree...” She paused. “Actually, it was kind of sexy.”

That was interesting. “Really?”

“Yeah...”

Damned if she couldn’t bat her eyes like Hawthorne...

This interesting note was interrupted by Ofelia and Ramona.

“Gabriel, we’re sorry,” said Ofelia. “That’s not why we came here.”

Lorca decided to take this for a ride. “No, you came here to tell Letty she doesn’t know how to feed the kids and tear apart the kitchen.”

If he was going to get laid out of this, he might as well make it worthwhile.

Letty tried to hide a smirk. Ramona was galled.

“We just want to help-”

Ofelia put her hand over her wife’s. “And sometimes we interfere too much.”

Ramona did not look like she thought they interfered too much but said nothing.

“Again, though, we came because of something specific,” said Ofelia. “After the Buran, your father contacted us.”

“My what?”

Letty sighed. “Presumably after he contacted me.”

Lorca looked at her. “I don’t understand...”

“Apparently, he’s followed you,” said Letty. “Saw the news service reports, knew you were captain...”

“He just wanted to meet the children,” said Ramona.

Letty cut in. “He didn’t want to meet Gabe, I don’t know why he should meet the kids.”

“Everyone makes mistakes when they’re young,” said Ofelia.   
“It wasn’t your decision to make,” said Ramona.

Lorca recalled his own father. He was adopted like Gabe, but it was different there. Young, fit soldiers of the empire could make some extra cash by breeding with a young healthy girl, usually from a family with no options. Then a healthy baby was born and sold to couples in need of someone to cement the family name. That was his purpose. And he succeeded.   
But it was never enough.

Ramona always said they had gotten their money’s worth. That gnawed at him in quiet moments. He could succeed and succeed, but how could he belong if the people he belonged to just sold him off?

He wanted to show him, show him what a mistake he had made, show him what a success he was. That was what drove him.

This idiot, this drunken old soldier who had never achieved a tenth of what Lorca had, he laughed at him.

“Gabe, are you okay?”

“Mi alma?,” prodded Ofelia.

He took himself back from remembering the time he stabbed someone who shared his jawline because he laughed.

“Letty made the right decision,” said Lorca. “I don’t want to meet him. I don’t want the kids near him.”

Ramona moved to object, Ofelia stilled her again.

“Por supuesto, mi amor.”

Lorca moved past them, going upstairs. He locked himself in the master bathroom, going back to the computer terminal.

He did a quick search using the name of his biological father. Dennis Barnaby. A name totally lacking in any gravitas if he did say so.

Dennis Barnaby. One time ensign, he had gotten into trouble on shore leave in New Haifa. Gabriel Lorca and a dishonorable discharge followed by prison time were the result.

“Gabe?,” called Letty. “They’re gone, they took the kids to brunch.”

He unlocked the door as Letty came in.

“In their defense, I didn’t tell them about how you found him...”

“Right.”

He went to sit on the bed. Gabe had found his dad, too? And it hadn’t ended in death?

“Hey, I would never tell anyone that.”

Hawthorne was the only one he had told about his father.

Letty sat next to him, wrapping an arm around him.

“I know,” she said.

Good for her. Lorca sure as hell didn’t know.

“Tell me what’s wrong?”

“Well, it does seem pretty rich of him to care only after I’m dead.”

“Agreed. He’s a shitty person. He doesn’t deserve you.”

Hawthorne had said that, too.

She had been the only one who knew about what had happened to Dennis Barnaby. Oddly enough, the only time he had been given pause by a killing. The only one he didn’t tell anyone else about.

Letty squeezed him closer, burying her nose at his neck.

“You can tell me anything, you know.”

Lorca looked at her in amazement. That was what Hawthorne had said when they began seriously courting and their families discussed marriage contracts. It had shocked him. Hawthorne had a pretty exterior, but everything else was steel. Terran marriages in the upper houses were not exactly known for their affection.

But she didn’t care. She had said they shouldn’t have any secrets.

“I know,” he said.

He covered her mouth with his own and began to ease her back onto the mattress.

Lorca stopped.

“What?,” asked Letty.

“I missed you,” he said. It was honest, but it was meant for someone else.

“I missed you,” she said back and unintentionally meant the same.


	7. Enjoy the good luck a companion brings you.

Gabe organized adjacent quarters to his and carried Emmy back. Though he presumed it meant someone got kicked out as there were two members of engineering cutting through the bulkhead when he carried Emmy in.

“It’ll be a few minutes, sir.”

“It-“ He stopped, remembering he needed to be a pain in the ass. “It had better be. Come on, baby.”

“Captain Lorca.”

The Kelpien bowed. He was still not used to them, kept as a slave race and sometimes entrée.

“This is Emmy.”

The Kelpien bowed. “Mistress Emmy.”

“She needs a bath and something to wear, then she can sleep in my bed for now.”

“Yes. I’ll request another slave.”

“What?”

“I always have a Kelpien,” said Emmy.

Gabe was kind of amazed. Emmy had twenty four hour attendance from a slave? She willingly went into the arms of the Kelpien. 

He went back into the lounge as Hawthorne entered. 

“Where is she?”

“Want to explain what the fuck that was?”

“Excuse me?”

“Stabbing your wife-“

“Ex-wife.”

“In front of your daughter.”

“Did you think we should have tried to work things out?,” she asked blankly.

“Maybe wait for Emmy to leave the room-“

“Don’t you show up after ten years-“

“Show up? Maybe you could have mentioned it!”

Gabe froze. 

“Like you would have cared.”

That made him furious. “Did you tell her that?”

“What?”

“When she asked about her father, what did you tell her? Because if you told her that her father doesn’t care, I swear…” 

He wasn’t thinking about Lorca. He was thinking of himself and a man who shared his jawline, but would never love him.

Hawthorne seemed to turn it down a notch.

“I wouldn’t tell her that. I just didn’t mention you.”

“And she didn’t wonder?”

She sighed. “I know you have your own issues with this-“

He snorted. They had that in common. 

The Kelpien appeared. “Mistress Emmy has finished with her bath. She requests an audience.”

Gabe walked into the bedroom, leaving Hawthorne hastening to catch up. Gabe knelt by the bed.

“Hey, you feeling any better?,” he asked.

“I guess.”

“You sure you’re not hungry?”

“No.”

Hawthorne walked in, sitting on the bed. 

“You know there’s nothing to worry about,” she said. “We’re safe here on this ship.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s Gabriel’s ship. And he’s not like Savannah. He would never betray you.”

“Why not?”

Gabe opened his mouth to answer. 

Hawthorne beat him to it. “Because he’s your dad.”

Emmy looked at him. 

“That’s right, baby,” he said, probably too close to forgetting this was not his Emmy. “I’ll take care of you, okay?” 

They waited until she fell asleep and left the Kelpien in charge. The engineering crew were putting the final touches on the new doorway.  

“She reminds me of you,” said Hawthorne breaking the silence.  

Gabe gave her a questioning look. 

“Sometimes.” She took a breath. “Now, can we talk about your next move?” 

“I don’t think-” 

“I don’t think? No way. I’m in this now and as you damn well know I don’t like to be left out of the loop. Also, where’s your bourbon?”

“What?”

She began searching through the cabinets.

“You know, the good stuff that your crew hasn’t poisoned.”

She opened a cabinet and pulled out a bottle. “Not even locked,” she said in disappointment. Another Kelpien glided through. She held out the bottle without looking. “Try this.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

Gabe tried to hide his astonishment as the Kelpien willingly partook of the potential poison. 

“Once they’re done, I’m resetting your locks so if you could kindly keep your usual harem from coming here. Is Landry still here?”

Gabe froze. 

“So, that’s a yes. That woman has no life, does she?”

“What did Burnham say to you?” 

Hawthorne raised a brow. “You didn’t care, did you?” 

He shrugged. 

“Then why do you want to know?”

“Curiosity.” 

“You weren’t a secret from the Emperor. She knew everything and even tried telling Burnham that…”

“That what?”

“That your heart would never belong to her because I-“ 

“You What?”

“I still had it.” She scoffed. “Which is ridiculous. Just goes to show you how desperate she must have been, still is if she thought I would have any effect on you at all.

She was waiting for him to dispute it. Gabe pinched his temple and dismissed the engineering team with a bark.. This was starting to feel like the beginning of so many arguments with his wife. He looked for some leverage. 

“You left me.”

“Excuse me?”

Gabe remembered back to what Kat had said. Hawthorne had left him, didn’t want anything to do with him.

“You left me.” No sense in revealing he didn’t know anything beyond that.

“Don’t act like you waited ten minutes before you got one of your sluts-“ 

“Is that it?”

“No, I don’t care who you fuck.”

“Then what?”

“You really want to know?”

“Yeah.”

“You took Burnham to the Theoquartz Cave.”

On Risa? Shit. Letty would have killed him for that. He was ninety-nine percent certain that was where they had made Emmy after a few years of trying. 

“Happy?,” she asked. “And then you had the gall- though it’s you, why am I surprised- to say I was overreacting. So, yeah, sorry I wasn’t willing to test out all of your seduction tricks to get them ready for Burnham!”

“I-“

“Even if it’s just strategy. Some things needed to be ours. I didn’t want Emmy to…”

She was holding back. She left because she was pregnant. 

“You think I would use my own kid as a pawn?”

Shit. Was that something Lorca would do?

“How was I supposed to know there was a decent father lurking inside you? I’m not stupid, Gabriel, I never expected anything you wouldn’t give.” 

That was a lie. Just like when Letty said something like, “I wasn’t worried” or “I understand why you have to leave.” 

Because he had been married for fifteen years, the next words came out of his mouth on instinct. 

“I’m sorry.” 

The expression on Hawthorne’s face said she had never heard them from her Lorca. 

“What?,” she asked. 

Letty would have been pissed off, but Hawthorne was flummoxed. Letty would have said, “You’re just saying that, you have no idea what you’re sorry for!” 

So he tried to answer that question. “I’m sorry I didn’t make you feel like we were a team. Because that’s what we should have been, should be.” 

Hawthorne was in shock. 

“I need you,” he said honestly. He needed her because there was no way he could continue to do this on his own, navigate this universe. He was nowhere near thinking like one of them and he had just been lucky so far. “You asked what my plan was and I am out of plans. My last plan was Burnham and well…” 

“Yeah, over ten years of manipulation and seduction for your checkmate to just die.” 

“I need a new plan.” 

“Well,” said Hawthorne, “aren’t you lucky I’m here then?” 

“I think so.” 


	8. "Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at this. Hope you're enjoying it? Happy reading.

* * *

Gabe Lorca was a fucking moron. 

This was what Lorca had decided. 

Who would ever leave his life? Why would anyone leave this?

It wasn’t bad, this other Earth, this other life. He may not have been emperor, but he had this house, two kids that adored him- even if the younger one was a hyperactive pain in the ass- and a wife… a wife that…

Monogamy wasn’t really a thing for Terrans. It was outdated, irrelevant and impractical. Moreover, Lorca had always thought it sounded boring. Hawthorne had certainly never expected that and he had never asked it from her. Instead, she asked that he curtail his lovers while she was visiting and he asked that hers only be women. Their families had been finalizing the marriage contract and his main concern was that he knew any baby she had was his, he didn’t want to waste his time raising someone else’s. But she left and they had no babies.

Meanwhile, Letty… they had managed to have sex several times before Gabe’s moms returned with the kids. Then that night and the next morning… it wasn’t boring. All that time together meant that Letty knew exactly how to play him. Or rather Gabe, but it worked just as well on him.

He woke up before her now. 

Except this morning.

He startled awake at the sound of something clattering in the bathroom. He reached for a phaser that wasn’t there and realized Letty was in the bathroom. 

Lorca got up and opened the door.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“No.” He walked in behind her, pulling her against his waist. She was so beautiful as she used one of the dozens of bottles on the vanity. Hawthorne had the same configuration. “You don’t need to do that.”

“You say that now. What would you say after I stopped, though?”

“I would say come back to bed. What are you up for?”

“You weren’t listening, were you?”

“Wasn’t listening to what?”

“The field trip to the Cochrane site.”

“The what?”

“Emmy’s grade is going to the Cochrane site.” She paused. “First contact? You remember that, right? I think we all did the same play in first grade.”

He had not. His tutor had taught him how the Vulcans had been planning an invasion. Zefram Cochrane stopped them and put the Terran Empire on the path to greatness.

“Yes.”

“You could come.”

“What?”

“We could always use another chaperone. Someone usually flakes out, leaves it to those of us without real jobs.”

He frowned. “You have a job.”

“Part time consulting isn’t a job. At least last I checked with your mom.”

“You take care of the kids.” He took a look in the mirror. “Yeah, I’ll come.”

* * *

 

He got dressed. The class was meeting at the local shuttle port down at the docks. Emmy held his hand which he actually didn’t mind. She was quiet, something that seemed to worry Letty, but not him. Lorca knew some of the best in the Empire had been underestimated because they were “quiet.” It was the quiet ones you had to worry about. 

Suddenly he felt Emmy’s hand fall away. He turned his head quickly to see her looking embarrassed as a group of girls pointed and giggled. Lorca was about to say something when he was confronted by a Betazoid. 

To be fair, he only knew she was a Betazoid from one adventure where he and Hawthorne had…

This was awkward. 

“Captain Lorca, I presume?,” she said with a smile. 

“Yeah.” 

“Mrs. Soisid. I’m Emmy’s teacher.” 

Oh, so that was her name. 

Her name had not come up. 

“Right. Nice to meet you.” 

Soisid frowned. “Have we met before?” 

He silently pled with the universe not to have Soisid read his mind. Shit, shit, shit. He begged himself to not try to recall with vivid imagery the previous encounter with the counselor’s counterpart which of course resulted in an onslaught of nothing but the aforementioned imagery. 

“Gabe?,” asked Letty. 

“What? No. Nothing.” 

Soisid turned to Emmy. “Why don’t you go join your trip buddies?”

“Trip buddies?,” asked Lorca. 

“I’ve assigned the children to stay in groups today. Emmy is in a group with Sabine, Mischa and Yuan.” 

Soisid motioned at the girls who Lorca had just seen laughing. Before Lorca could wrap his head around that, the kids were dividing up and Soisid was giving instructions for the day before they loaded onto the shuttles. 

“Is that a good idea?,” Lorca asked Letty. 

“Wearing seatbelts on the shuttle?” 

“No. Emmy being in a group with those girls.”

“Mrs. Soisid thinks we should give the girls a chance to resolve their conflict on their own.” 

On the previous encounter, Hawthorne had not been terribly concerned with what the Betazoid thought.

* * *

 

The shuttle ride was uneventful if annoyingly loud. Letty talked to the other parents while Lorca tried to steal glances back at Emmy. 

She was staring out the window. No worse off than back at the dock. It was hard to tell if the other girls had excluded her from their conversation or if she had extricated herself. 

The Cochrane Site was much different than he had known it when his tutor took him around Emmy’s age. The morning was spent in a museum focusing on Zefram Cochrane and the science behind warp drive. They finally arrived at an exhibit about Vulcan where Lorca was able to catch up with Emmy. 

“Hey. You okay?” 

“Yes.” Emmy darted her eyes towards her trip buddies as they whispered. 

“You don’t have to stay with them, you know. You can stick by me.” 

“Mrs. Soisid said-” 

“Like I give a fuck.” 

Emmy’s eyes widened. “You swore.”

He sighed. “Yes, I did.” 

“Can anyone explain what first contact is?,” their tour guide asked loudly. 

Lorca pretended to be paying attention. 

“No one?,” asked Soisid. 

The kids pretended the carpet was interesting. Then it got worse. 

“Captain Lorca,” said Soisid. 

Shit. 

“Yes?” 

“I’m certain the children would love to hear from a starship captain what first contact is and why it’s so important.” 

Shit. 

Terran First Contact protocol went through his head: One, assess any planetary resources that might be of use to the Empire. Two, assess planetary development. Three, eliminate any immediate threats. Four, obliterate any military or defense resources. Five, eliminate all resistance… 

He was betting that Soisid would not like to hear that. 

“Or what the Prime Directive is?” 

Okay, this was a great time for bullshit. 

“First Contact is when the Vulcans came to Earth because they observed the warp signature of the Phoenix.” Lorca realized Emmy was talking. “Because we had warp drive, they realized we were ready to take our place in the universe. The Prime Directive says we can never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets. Because no matter how much we want to help it always turns out bad.” 

The class stared at Emmy in amazement. 

“Thank you, Emmy,” said Soisid. 

“Yes, thank you,” said the tour guide. “Now let’s take a look at this graph comparing Earth and Vulcan’s development...” 

“Thank you,” Lorca said to Emmy. 

She shrugged. “You didn’t look like you wanted to answer. Mrs. Soisid always does that to me.” 

“Where did you learn all of that?,” he asked. 

Emmy looked up at Lorca in bewilderment. “You, Daddy.” 

He smiled. “Right. Just making sure you remember.”

* * *

 

They broke for lunch before they went to the launch site, sitting out in a clearing near the woods. Most of the kids got lunch from the museum food synthesizers, but Letty had packed a small picnic of salad and cold fried chicken. 

“Chicken,” he said a little too gleefully. 

“You don’t want to ask me its name?” 

“Walter,” he said. Letty looked at him questioningly. “He tastes like a Walter.” 

“I’ll tell your moms that.” 

“Do it.” 

She frowned at him. “That’s new.” 

“What’s new?”

“Not being scared of your moms.” 

Lorca was quick to want to cover up the inconsistency. “Call it a side effect of almost dying.” 

“We should have had you almost die when we first got married.” She looked up. “Kidding.” 

“Don’t worry. It’s just me and Walter here.” 

“Shut up. Emmy!” 

They looked up. 

“Emmy!,” Letty called again. 

Lorca stood up, scanning the kids set up at the field around them. “Emmy!” 

“Oh, my God,” said Letty. 

Lorca spotted the girls from Emmy’s group emerging from the woods. He raced over before Letty could follow. 

“Where’s Emmy?” 

The leader, Sabine, turned up her nose. “We’re not her babysitters.” 

Without his realizing it, Soisid had joined them. “You girls were meant to stay together-” 

“Where is she you little bitch?,” he asked cutting her off.  

The girls looked galled at him.

“Captain Lorca, I can sense you’re upset-” 

“Really? You got to be telepathic for that?!” 

“I don’t have to tell you anything-” 

“She ran away,” said Yuan, apparently having a conscience. “She got upset and she ran away.” 

Lorca ran into the woods as Letty called after him. 


	9. "The wise man is the one that makes you think that he is dumb."

* * *

 

Gabe heard screaming. He jumped off the sofa and made his way to Emmy’s new room. He found the night Kelpien trying to soothe her as she screamed and cried.

“Emmy, Emmy, come here, baby…” he picked her up, holding her tight as she began to still. “Shh, shh. What is it? More bad dreams?”

She nodded. Emmy was always a sensitive baby, he wasn’t surprised this one was. 

“Okay, why don’t you tell Daddy what it was and the Kelpien can get us some warm milk?”

Hawthorne entered, he noted a phaser in her hand. 

“Everything okay?,” she asked.

“Nightmare.”

Hawthorne sighed. It wasn’t an infrequent occurrence she had confided when she finally decided she could treat Gabe- or rather Lorca- like a co-parent. She feared that Emmy was just too soft for the Terran Empire. All attempts to toughen her up had failed spectacularly.

“You moved your phaser,” said Hawthorne. “It used to be under your pillow.”

How the hell did his counterpart ever get any sleep? 

“She was just going to tell me all about her bad dream.”

“Yeah?” Hawthorne leaned forward to give a kiss. “What happened?”

“Savannah was here.”

“She’s not coming back, honey,” said Gabe. Indeed not, after she was stabbed, she was tossed from an airlock. When Hawthorne killed someone, she really killed them…

Letty shared the same thoroughness. 

“And even if she did Mommy and Daddy are here, okay?”

Gabe kissed her again. “Daddy’s not gonna let anything happen.” 

They took her to the living room where Gabe held her as she fell asleep. Hawthorne nursed a drink.

“How did you get good at this?”

“Good at what?”

“Being a Dad.”

He froze. Was this a giveaway? He remembered when they were expecting Emmy, his Emmy. He had secretly read nearly every parenting book in the computer. He had wanted to be Dad for so long, he wanted to be perfect. He was going to take such good care of her. 

“You don’t have to answer that, Gabriel. It’s just a surprise. A good surprise…” she shook her head. She sat on the sofa. “You ready to see Nana?” 

Nana. He wasn’t thrilled by the prospect of having to fake his identity with someone else. Besides, Nana in his universe had never liked him. She was still reminding him he was supposed to marry Kat. Something Letty shared the blame for when the mint juleps got going at Nana’s birthday party. “Hawthorne Leticia had lots of possibilities, but where were we going to find anyone else who wanted Katrina?”

“As ever,” he said. 

“Don’t worry. She still loves you. She tried to talk me into coming back I don’t know how many times…” 

“Why didn’t you?” 

“I think it would be better if we tell people you killed Burnham.”

“Was that what we were talking about-” 

“What do we have now? A transporter accident? A shuttle accident? Say you killed her and at least her death does something for us. Besides, the Emperor says you did-” 

“What happened to having her take the blame?” 

“More difficult narrative. Do you think we could get away with telling people Burnham killed her parents?” 

“She was a kid.” 

“So?” 

He motioned at the sleeping Emmy. “I’m putting her back to bed.”

* * *

 

The next day they were off in a shuttle to the rendezvous with Nana and Kat. Hawthorne studied her padd as Emmy peered over his shoulder at the conn. 

“Want to see closer?,” he asked. He motioned for her to sit on his lap. “Here.”  Landry- who by some misfortune of the duty roster was copilot today- cast a wary glance. 

“See? It’s all about instrumentation. You’ve got to know what all the readings say and what they mean.”

“You know what they all mean?” 

“Of course I do. I wouldn’t be a very good pilot if I didn’t.” 

He continued showing her what the readings were and what the controls did. He missed that, showing his kids how something worked, watching the delight in their faces as they understood something. They had spent at least an hour on the bridge of the Buran before he took her out the first time. 

There hadn’t been any time the last time. It was all he could do to sit them down and try to explain who the Klingons were and what war was. Jacob hadn’t understood. Daddy had to go away and fight some bad guys. It was just another great adventure. 

Emmy had understood. It wasn’t delight but dread in her face as she grasped the concept. The questions didn’t stop with her waking him up in the night to ask why the Federation wouldn’t just talk to the Klingons. He tried to explain they had tried, but Emmy wouldn’t have it. She was old enough to watch the news service, people were dying and her dad could be one of them. 

“Arriving,” said Landry. 

“Go put your seatbelt on, okay?,” said Gabe. 

Emmy nodded and went back to Hawthorne. 

“You think that’s a great idea?,” asked Landry. 

“Do I think what’s a great idea?”

Landry nodded at Emmy. “You know what I mean. Have you even done a DNA comparison?”

“She’s mine.” 

“So what? You really think she can be Empress? She’s dragging you down and that’s what they want, don’t be this stupid-” 

“Landry,” he cut her off. 

She sighed. “Sir?” 

“Say another word about her and I’ll stab you in the neck.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

He was struck by the realization that he meant that. Rarely had his thoughts turned so violent. It had been a long time, not since Tarsus IV. 

They landed and he took Emmy’s hand as they exited the shuttle. 

That’s when he saw Kodos. 

Fucking Kodos. 


	10. "Good timber does not grow with ease, the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees."

Okay, now he was a fucking moron. 

No tricorder, no phaser, not even a pocket knife as Lorca went into the woods after Emmy. 

He followed the girls’ footprints in the path and the broken brush in the forest. 

It was here that Lorca recalled that none of this was a part of his master plan. How did this help him get back to his universe and take over the Empire? Hell, Emmy and Jacob weren’t his kids, Letty wasn’t his wife, this had nothing to do with his coup. 

When had he become so attached? 

When had his life begun to seem so hollow compared to Gabe’s? It was one thing to rule an empire, but what was the point of all that if you didn’t have anyone to share it with? What did it mean if you couldn’t leave it to anyone? Gabe got to teach his kids all of the human nonsense about the Prime Directive and travelling the stars and they idolized him for it. Who idolized him? Burnham? Maybe, but she was dead. Had he ever meant to do anything but keep her at arm’s length? Who was even going to mourn him when he was dead? Landry? There was a fairly good chance she’d be the one to kill him. 

He should have gone after Hawthorne. 

How long had he been out here? He could hear a shuttle going overhead but there was no place for it to land. 

“Emmy!” 

“Help!” 

The sound echoed and he rushed towards the rock face. There was a cave he rushed towards. 

“Emmy!” 

The cave was dark and he did have Gabe’s video comm which didn’t seem to function all that well on Earth so at the moment it was a glorified flashlight. He didn’t have to go far to find Emmy on the ground with an ankle that definitely had not been in that direction earlier. 

He took his sunglasses off. In this cave his Terran eyesight was actually an advantage and he could make out Emmy’s dirt and tear stained face. 

“Daddy,” she sobbed. 

Lorca sat on the ground next to her. “Hey, it’s okay. Shh.” 

He held her close as she sobbed. When did he learn to do that? 

“What happened? Why did you come in here?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“What happened? What did those girls do?” 

This unleashed a fit of tears and Lorca tried to make out the words. 

“Huh?” 

“Sabine said you should have died!” 

“What?” He hadn’t even called her a bitch then, a statement he was standing by. “Emmy, I don’t understand.” 

“On the Buran. She said a captain has to go down with the ship and you didn’t.” 

A captain was supposed to go down with the ship? How asinine. Was that a thing? Would Gabe Lorca have just died on the Buran on principle leaving a wife and two kids? 

“I don’t want you to die, Daddy! Please don’t go back!” 

“Shh, shh…” He held her tight. “I am not dying anytime soon. Okay?”

“Okay…” 

“Now we need to get you out of here.” 

“I tripped and my leg is turned funny.” 

He glanced at it again. 

“Yeah, I can definitely see that.” 

“It hurts.” 

“I bet it does.” He stood. “Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to pick you up and we’re going to walk back to the site.”

“Okay.” 

“It’s going to hurt.” 

He picked her up and walked out of the cave as Emmy clung to him. 

She didn’t want her dad to die. 

Was Gabe Lorca dead? 

If half these Humans believed in half the nonsense they spouted, then, yeah. Probably. 

“Don’t worry, Emmy. I’ve got you,” he said softly.

* * *

 

A pod collected them and took them to a landing site where a shuttle took them to Calgary, one of the closest sites for advanced care. Scans revealed that yes, that ankle was really broken ad Emmy needed minor surgery. Which was how they found themselves in the waiting room.

“Hospital again,” said Letty. “This family loves hospitals lately. Surprising that Jacob is the only one untouched…” 

“And you,” remarked Lorca. 

“Right.” Letty shifted on the waiting room sofa. “I’m supposed to go to Utopia Planitia on Friday.” 

“What are you doing at Utopia Planitia?,” asked Lorca. 

“Daystrom wants me there.”

“Richard Daystrom?” The man was a genius but a rebel in his universe, one that Hawthorne had actually dealt with for Nana. 

Also just a little crazy. 

“Do you know another Daystrom? And before you ask, no, he’s not trying to hit on me.” 

“You sure about that?” 

“It doesn’t matter, I can’t go.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because Emmy has to be have her leg immobilized for a week.”

“I can take care of Emmy.” 

“And get Jacob to school? And swim class? And taekwondo? And you know, feed them?” 

“I’m a starship captain.” 

“Yeah, there are just about zero overlapping skills.” 

“I think I can take care of my own children. Go on your trip.”

“It’s just you’re due at Starfleet-“

“I know I’m due at Starfleet.” The final psychiatric evaluation and physical, to see if he was fit for command. “What does Daystrom want you to do anyway?”

“Trying to shorten the processing time on some weird propulsion system.”

Lorca’s attention piqued. “Weird propulsion system?”

“Yeah… it’s… really weird. Sorry I can’t say more. It’s only for people cleared for the project.”

“No, no problem.” He put his arm around her. “Don’t worry. Go on your trip.”


	11. "Don't let the past and useless details choke your existence."

* * *

Emmy had been a baby. 

More importantly, Emmy had been his baby. He had taken the post on Tarsus IV because he wanted more than anything to be with his family. Two years at the remote outpost would not be glamorous but it would have been two years waking up in the same bed as his wife and seeing his new daughter grow up. 

The first time he had been scared of losing Emmy.

Letty was out. She had gone into town to have a girls’ night with Winona Kirk and some of the researchers from the science outpost. He spent the night with Emmy  and was even proud of himself for getting her to eat pureed spinach which Letty insisted couldn’t be done. 

He woke up an hour later to find her vomiting. He tried not to panic. Babies threw up. Then she didn’t stop. He drove her to the hospital without thinking or letting anyone know to find an emergency department full of small children and their parents with the same problem. 

Fungus in the crops was in the food synthesizers. Little ones with their delicate immune systems were the first indicator that the decontamination process had not worked. 

He had taken her to the hospital in time. A few parents were not so lucky. 

Gabe was still struggling with the fact that Emmy had almost died and he had been the one to feed her. Letty tried to assure him that it could have been either of them and it wasn’t anyone’s fault, though he knew it had stuck with her in her unwillingness to use food synthesizers to this day. He was up with her one night, pacing, recriminating himself when the security alarm at the outpost went off. He had barely enough time to realize what was happening, colony forces were coming to kill them. 

Gabe was forced to throw himself over Emmy, getting hit in the arm as he played dead and listened to the men bicker over who had to shoot the baby. He tried to think of how he could fight both of them long enough to get a phaser and he would end both of them. Letty woke up and stunned one- thank God he’d insisted his wife learn to fire a phaser- allowing him the chance to take his phaser and subdue the other one. 

Kodos behind it. He, his family and what was left of his crew spent days in hiding. Then the deaths of thousands. 

After it was all over and they came back to Earth, he was so pissed off. 

Not the least of which was because he never got to strangle Kodos himself.

Gabe hugged Emmy to his side. 

“Administrator Kodos,” said Hawthorne. 

“Mrs. Lorca. Welcome to Stratos.” He turned. “And this must be Emmy.” 

Gabe had to hold Emmy to his side to keep from punching the man in the throat. 

“Captain Lorca. We meet again.” 

“Something like that.” 

“I have a daughter Emmy’s age. Perhaps you might like to play-” 

“No,” Gabe answered. He caught Hawthorne’s quizzical expression. “No. Emmy is going to stay with me.” 

Emmy was picking up on whatever energy he was giving off now. She was holding on to the hem of his coat.

“It’s no bother-” 

“It’s really no bother to have her stay with me.” 

“Administrator!” 

“Excuse me.” 

Hawthorne walked to Gabe. “What are you doing? He’s one of your few allies actually in the administration, in a position to cut off supplies, you want to insult him?” 

“I don’t care if I do.”

* * *

 

Stratos was a city among the clouds. Emmy stood captivated, staring out the windows at the floating metropolis.

“Yes, it is truly enchanting,” remarked Kodos. “Remarkable that the Ardanans had the technology to construct Stratos, probably some interference by a higher order species. The Ardanans are all on the surface, working the mines. Better that way. Nasty brutes one and all. Only suited for the caves.”

They were finally led to the room with Nana and Kat. 

“Kat!,” cried Emmy, breaking from Gabe. 

“There she is,” said Kat with a smile. Whatever Kat was in this universe, she seemed to bear a true affection for Emmy here as well. She hugged her. “Were you scared?” 

“Yes.” 

“That’s okay. Only idiots don’t have fear.” 

She went off to pay her respects to Nana at Kat’s insistence. From afar, the older woman had slightly more jewelry with a slightly smaller cocktail. Kat hugged Hawthorne. 

“Savannah?” 

“Done. Thank you.” 

Kat looked back to Gabe. “Gabriel and Hawthorne. Everything old is new again.” 

They went through the business of the day, the various skirmishes now throughout the Empire, threatening Georgiou’s hold. 

“I’ve brought some of Emmy’s things from home,” Nana announced. “Assuming she’s not coming back with me.”

“Why would she go back with you?,” asked Gabe.

“In case you’re displeased. I believe the original agreement was for someone to carry on the Lorca name.”

Gabe looked at Hawthorne. “Is she serious?”

“You never read the contract?,” asked Kat. 

“Of course he didn’t,” said Hawthorne.

Gabe noticed Emmy staring. 

“You can have my crew load her things.”

* * *

“Am I staying with you?”

Gabe looked down. They were headed back to the shuttle.

“Of course you are. You’re my Emmy.”

He felt a pang of guilt. His Emmy was back on Earth and safe, going to school. Had she made the soccer team? He insisted on comms with the kids almost fanatically, even if it was just a text to remind them he loved them. What were they thinking without him there?

“Do you miss home?,” asked Gabe.

She shrugged. “I miss my Kelpiens.”

“Oh.” 

“Savannah killed them.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nana says they’re all the same. I shouldn’t waste my feelings.”

That had to have been difficult. The Kelpiens were in constant attendance to her, in some ways more involved than he was. She may have been from here, but she was too young to have her natural compassion repressed.

“Don’t listen to Nana. That’s not how feelings work. There’s not a limit on them. You don’t have to ration them.”

“We’re all loaded up, Captain,” said Landry.

“I’m waiting on Hawthorne.”

“Right,” said Landry.

“Is there a problem, Landry?”

She scoffed. “No. Why would there be a problem?”

“Okay then-“

“I haven’t been in your quarters in months!”

Shit.

“Emmy, why don’t you say goodbye to Cousin Kat and Nana?”

Emmy did as she was asked, heading back across the landing bay.

“What?”

“What exactly is she doing for you? Even when you were with Burnham-“

“This is neither the time nor the place-“

“I have needs!”

God, please make this stop. This was actually all beginning to be suspiciously reminiscent of the time he had decided it was time for Landry to transfer off the Buran. Letty had been saying for months that Landry wanted to sleep with him and he tried to say she was just imagining things- which had not gone over well at all. Then she had begun saying how lonely their mission was and before he could change the subject, she had kissed him.

He really, really owed Letty an apology.

“Shockingly, Landry, I don’t spend all my time worrying about your needs.”

“Is Hawthorne that good a fuck?!”

“Yes! Actually!”

Suddenly, he heard Emmy scream. He turned to see her being dragged away by a teenage girl. As he made his move, shots flew out of nowhere stopping him from getting to Emmy. Soon Landry fired back and suddenly more intruders emerged mowed down by Kodos’ security forces. 

Hawthorne made a break for Emmy as Kat called out to her to stop. She was shot by one of the intruders and fell to the ground. 

The intruder who shot Hawthorne fell dead in one shot and Gabe realized it was his phaser that had done it.

Somewhere in this Emmy disappeared. He rushed toward Hawthorne. 

“Fuck,” said Hawthorne.

“We need to get you to a doctor,” said Kat. 

“Gabe, you have to-“

“Don’t try to talk-“

“Get Emmy-“

“Of course I’ll get Emmy.”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry-“

He shook his back. “What are you sorry for? You don’t have to be sorry for anything-“

“I shouldn’t have left, she needed you-“

“Get her help.”

“Where do you think you’re going?,” demanded Kat.

“Where do you think?!”

He walked to Kodos.

“I want a team to follow them.”

“Yes, of course, I’ll dispatch one straight away-“

“No, I’ll take them down.”

“My team can handle it-“

“Like they handled security here?”

Kodos nodded. 

“Oh, one more thing, if anything happens to Emmy, I am holding you personally responsible.”

“Or Hawthorne.”

He looked to see Kat at his side.”You need to stay with Hawthorne-“

“Nana has her. You need help,” said Kat. 

“Fine,” said Gabe. “Let’s go.’ 


	12. "Don't be afraid to take a chance when the opportunity of a lifetime appears."

Letty was smart.

As smart as Hawthorne.

Lorca hadn’t realized “part time consulting” was really a code for work on some of the most sensitive tech projects the Federation had. She and Daystrom had worked together until…

Huh. Until Letty married Gabe Lorca.

He didn’t like the idea of a universe where he was a step down.

He had been able to work his way into her files and create a phony access log, a trick Hawthorne had taught him actually when he wondered aloud if there was a way to see what Georgiou wasn’t telling him. She was always helpful with things like that, anything for their shared success.

He couldn’t find what had taken Letty to Utopia Planitia, though. 

“Daddy!”

“Coming, baby!”

He backed out of the files and headed upstairs. He heard Jacob in Emmy’s room as soon as he reached the top of the stairs. Inside, he seemed to be taking glee in holding every one of Emmy’s toys just out of arm’s reach. 

“Jacob, knock it off!”

“Mommy said I should play with her!”

“Yeah, I think we both know Mommy did not mean using psychological warfare tactics.”

Jacob smirked and Lorca finally realized what annoyed him about the boy.

Jacob was like him. His defenses always came back to some verbal loophole and that was just the kind of shit he would pull. 

Shit.

“Go watch a vid or… something.”

“I hate this family!”

“Okay, you’re still in it, though.”

“You’re not the boss of me! You’re never even here!”

“I think you’ll find I am.”

Yes, this was what he had come to. Arguing with a five year old about who his boss was.

“Hello?,” called someone.

He took a minute to recognize it.

Kat.

She appeared in the bedroom. 

“What’s everybody doing up here?,” she asked.

“I’m running away. I hate this family,” said Jacob.

“Well,” said Kat, “that’s too bad because I brought you a present from Vulcan but if you hate this family and you’re running away, I guess you don’t get it.”

There was the Katrina Cornwell Lorca knew.

“I want it!”

“Then go downstairs it’s in my bag.”

Jacob ran out.

Kat looked at Lorca. “Everything under control here?”

“Yeah, we’re doing great. I didn’t know you were back on Earth.”

“Command meeting. Reassigning some people.” She sat on Emmy’s bed and hugged her. “And how are you, sweetie?”

“Okay.”

She looked down at the immobilizers and osteo-regenerators. “Yeah, that looks like a pretty serious injury. Not as bad as the one your dad got in the Academy, though.” Kat glanced at him. “Oh, look, he’s trying to act like he doesn’t remember it.”

Emmy giggled.

Yes. Trying to act like he didn’t remember it.

* * *

 

Lorca excused himself while Kat entertained Emmy. He had a dinner to make and it was one of the things that made a Kelpien seem like such a good idea. Not for dinner, but to cook it. It would be very hard for it to do both. 

“Want any help?,” asked Kat. 

“I’d like to know what you’re here for.” 

“I can’t just bring your kids some nice presents?” 

“You were on Vulcan and you thought, hey, let me hit the gift shop?” 

“Fine. You win. Ambassador Sarek’s wife gave them to me, but don’t act like I never brought your kids anything.” 

“Sarek?” He was a rebel. 

“Yeah, Sarek, Michael Burnham’s adoptive father. Though he downplays that lately. Can’t imagine why,” she said dryly.  

Michael? 

Kat put a bag on the kitchen table. “I called Letty after I got her message about Emmy’s ankle. Sarek and his wife walked in while I was still talking. She asked about them and gave Emmy an introductory primer to Surak’s teachings and Jacob got… I don’t know what Jacob got, but he’s throwing them around his bedroom.” 

Lorca tried to think of a plan as he walked around the kitchen gathering ingredients. He also made a mental note to hide that book from Emmy, she was far too impressionable to be reading alien philosophy.  He turned around to find Kat scanning the room with a tricorder. 

“What are you doing?” 

“The material I have is top secret. You can’t be too careful.” She put up the tricorder. “You passed your psych exam.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“What do you know about mushrooms?” 

Mushrooms.

“Mushrooms?,” he asked. He knew where this was headed, but decided to play dumb. “Jacob won’t eat them.” 

“Try frying them. What do you know about astromycology?” 

No. This was too good. He watched as Kat pulled out a small holo projector that popped up a picture of the mycelial network. 

“Starfleet’s working on a new navigational system. It doesn’t run on dilithium, it runs on mycelial spores and theoretically, it could travel almost instantly to anywhere in the galaxy.” 

Or another universe. 

“And this isn’t working why?” 

“The calculations necessary, that’s why Daystrom asked to bring Letty in.” 

“You got a brief?” 

“Of course.” 

Kat handed him a PADD. It was filled with all the science details that he knew already so he skipped past looking for the personnel. 

Of course. Stamets and Straal. Oh, lucky them. Straal was alive and Stamets wasn’t in a coma. 

Of course, these people didn’t realize that the only way to get a biological system to work was to add a biological component. 

“Starfleet’s sending out two ships with the spore drive.”

“They think the competition will yield quicker results.” 

Kat nodded. “Ndukwe is taking out the Glenn, Discovery still needs a captain.” 

A captain who could somehow talk someone into interacting with the spore drive. 

“And you want me?” 

“I need someone with experience. We’ve got two ships full of science officers and a war to win. You understand tactics. You’re great at getting people to work together.”

“When do we start?” 


	13. "A chance meeting opens new doors to success and friendship."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is a flashback chapter because I got to thinking about how weird it is that we've never seen the actual couples together in this story. Right? 
> 
> Oh and there are actually comments on this story now. Thanks! And please, if you have questions or requests or anything, feel free to write them.

* * *

It was Gabe’s first posting as a security chief aboard the U.S.S. Zhukov. He had been there a few months but it was his first real senior staff posting and he was still keen to make a good impression. He knew he hadn’t progressed in his career the way that he had planned, but life had other plans. 

Or rather life didn’t have other plans which meant that following his girlfriend around was not a great relationship or career strategy. 

“Two computer geniuses headed our way. Captain Garcia is not happy,” said George Kirk. His first officer, probably headed for a ship of his own soon.  “She hates when Starfleet gets the idea that her ship needs help, so it’s better if you and I deal with them.” 

“Who are they, sir?” 

“Richard Daystrom and Hawthorne Cornwell.” 

“The Richard Daystrom?”

“One and the same. I tried to research the other one, but made it through about two pages of a paper he wrote before I admitted I wasn’t that smart.” 

They entered the transporter room where the chief let them know their guests were waiting. George gave the word and they waited as Daystrom and his colleague materialized.  

She looked familiar. 

“Letty.” 

“Gabe.” 

Daystrom looked to Letty. “Care to introduce us?” 

“Doctor Daystrom, this is Gabriel Lorca.”

“Chief of Security.”

Gabe looked at George who was definitely amused by his security chief’s reaction to the arrival. 

“This is Letty Cornwell.” 

“I take it you two know each other?” 

“She and I, we, it’s-”

She looked good. Had she always looked this good? 

Better than good.

“Gabe dated my cousin,” said Letty. 

“Ah. Katrina Cornwell,” said George. 

God, had he only seen women in uniform for so long that it only took… what was she wearing? Leggings? 

God, had he still not said a word? Way to look like a jackass.

“Let me get that,” said Gabe, taking her bag as she stepped off the platform.

“Southern manners in deep space?”

“Something like that.”

“You must need to rest,” said George. “Why don’t I show you to your quarters, Doctor Daystrom?”

Daystrom cast a skeptical look at Gabe. “I think I’d like to get to work.” 

“Well, I’d like to rest,” said Letty.

“Well, Doctor, I feel like we should do what the lady wants,” said George. 

They went to the turbolift together. Fortunately, Daystrom’s quarters were on a different level so they got to be alone. 

“Who’s Hawthorne?”

“I’m Hawthorne.”

“I get that.”

“Mom’s maiden name. Family tradition, oldest daughter has the mother’s maiden name as her first name.”

“It stops with you?”

“Definitely stops with me. Who would name a baby girl Cornwell? Even a boy sounds like he’s going to get beat up a lot.”

“Lorca would be good,” Gabe said as they stepped out of the turbolift. 

Letty raised an eyebrow. Gabe wondered if he could just slam his head into the bulkhead.

“That would be your granddaughter,” said Letty.

“Well, I was just-“

“Don’t you think you should ask me to dinner before you name our grandchildren? And several other steps?”

“Would you want dinner?,” he asked as he motioned to the door of her guest quarters. 

“I have to eat.”

“Dr. Daystrom won’t mind?” 

“Why would he mind?” 

“There was a look.” 

“I’m not dating Richard.” She stepped inside and turned around. “Dinner?” 

“1900 hours?” 

“I’ll be there.” 

Letty disappeared behind the doors and Gabe wondered what the hell had just happened. 

* * *

Lorca hated this whole thing.

Set up on a date by his moms, apparently approved by the Emperor since Hawthorne had been a guest on the Charon, given a ride to Lorca where the Emperor hoped he might be a little easier to manage. This was evidenced by the fact that she seemed to have summoned everyone in the sector for a state dinner. 

“I think you’ll be pleased,” said Georgiou. 

Michael looked pissed about this whole thing, an interesting development, but the teenager was so pissed off lately, it was hard to tell. 

“Will I?”

Georgiou smiled. “Keep an open mind.”

The doors slid open. Lorca barely recognized her from the clippings his mothers had sent.

Chestnut hair, brown eyes and the dress… Deep green and gauzy, a bare back. God, had he only seen women in armor or naked for so long that a dress was enough to turn him on? 

He realized the statement she was making. A custom of the women of the old houses. No armor, no possible weapons on that dress. She was saying, “I am here for Gabriel Lorca to protect.” 

She smiled at him. 

“Gabriel Lorca.”

“Hawthorne Cornwell.”

“Your moms had me thinking you were taller.”

“You met them.”

“Of course, they had to inspect me in person.”

“Shall we sit down?,” suggested Georgiou.

They made their way into the dining room. Lorca stepped in front of the Kelpien behind Hawthorne’s chair to push her chair in.

“Southern manners in deep space?,” asked Hawthorne.

“Something like that,” he replied taking his own seat, conveniently situated next to hers. As the Emperor pleased, he presumed.

“Hawthorne’s grandmother was telling me about her help with the Mare Tranquilis rebellion.”

“It was nothing,” she said. 

“Humility does not suit a woman of your capabilities. It was quite innovative.”

“How did you do it?,” Michael asked petulantly. 

“I remembered my Caesar,” said Hawthorne. 

“Caesar?,” she asked. 

“When Caesar invaded Gaul, there was a general called-” 

“Vercengatorix,” said Lorca. 

She smiled. “Right. He thought he could simply keep his men inside the city walls while he awaited reinforcements, but Caesar built a trench, miles long…”

“Is there a point to this story?” 

“Michael,” Georgiou said sharply. She turned back to Hawthorne. “Please. Continue.” 

“I built a force field, over, underground and around,” said Hawthorne. “Cutting off reinforcements, cutting off supplies. I just had to wait for them to starve.”

“Seems cowardly,” said Michael. 

“The rebels were counting on my coming in,” said Hawthorne. “I deprived them of that.”  

“And without a casualty in the Imperial Fleet,” said Georgiou. “The base successfully returned to us.” 

“Genius,” said Lorca. 

“Not genius, more plagiarism, I think.” 

“No. Most commanders in the fleet would have wanted to go in, to make a name for themselves. You didn’t. You chose a tactical advantage over a political one.” 

Hawthorne leaned forward. 

“Did I?,” she whispered. 

Lorca wondered what the hell had just happened. 

* * *

Gabe had been rethinking this whole thing as he waited in the Mess Hall. First off, he had to shoo away about five people and he was still new on this ship. He was sure to hear about that for days. 

Then there was the terrible idea of dating Kat’s cousin. 

The doors opened and he looked up to see Letty, who, damn it. Now there was a dress. One of the ones with cutouts that had Kat asking who in their right mind would wear it. He stood to meet her. 

“Nice dress.” 

“Thank you,” said Letty. “I wasn’t sure what I was dressing for.” 

“You weren’t sure what you were dressing for?” 

“Well, if this is a date, it’s for you. If it’s not, I’m going somewhere much more exciting later.” 

“Can I interest you in a trip by the food synthesizer?”

They collected their meals and sat back down.

Which was awkward. 

“Kat got first officer on the Mandela,” said Letty. 

Of course she did. “Good for her.” 

“Great, we’re done talking about her,” said Letty, surprising him. “Tell me about you.” 

“What?” 

“Well, you and I have only met at Christmas or your graduation or Nana’s birthday. That means I know you went to Starfleet Academy, you pretend to like books Kat gave you and you can really hold your whiskey.” 

“I wasn’t pretending-” 

“You were pretending.” 

“I-” He paused. “Okay, yes, I hated them.” 

“So, tell me about yourself.” 

“What’s to tell?” 

“Siblings?” 

“No.” 

“Parents?” 

“Two moms.” 

She smiled. “And they…”

“They what?” 

“I don’t know. Locked you in a closet the whole of your childhood?” 

“No. I…” He paused. “Mama- that’s what I call Ofelia, she’s from Buenos Aires, she was a teacher.” 

“So, she’s Lorca?”

He nodded. “Mom- Ramona- we lived on her family’s horse farm, outside Louisville.” 

“What? Like the Kentucky Derby?” 

He nodded. “It’s not the same, now that they’ve started letting other species of horse compete.” 

“I didn’t know people had opinions on that.” 

“Well, how’s it fair to bring in a Vulcan horse? They’ve got longer legs, higher lung capacity and they’re more efficient at processing oxygen. Then take the Andorian Steed. Okay, maybe it’s at a disadvantage from the weather, but it’s not a prey herd animal. That takes some of the pressure off.” 

“I stand corrected.” Letty took another bite. “One mom, one dad. Mom- Emerson- is a teacher, too, actually. Well, a professor at the College of Charleston. She teaches psychology. Dad works for the Federation’s Office of of Extraplanetary Acquisition and Aid.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“It’s a very complicated way of saying he figures out how to pay aliens without money.”

Gabe nodded, taking another bite. 

“I’m adopted.” 

Letty looked up. “Wow.” 

He went back to his food. 

“I didn’t mean…” She paused. “It’s just that it’s unusual. You don’t see a lot of-” 

“Unwanted children?” 

“Unplanned pregnancies. My cousin Ava got a faulty batch of her injections three years back, she almost got the doctor fired. She likes the kid now or says she does…” 

“My mom…biological mom. She was a teenager on New Haifa. Her parents had actually helped found the colony. She was sixteen and she meets up with an ensign on shore leave. Dennis Barnaby, isn’t that the worst name?” 

“I don’t know. Have you tried Hawthorne Cornwell?”

He had to smile. “She gets pregnant, he leaves only to be tracked down when I show up. First he tells the advocate’s office he doesn’t remember and then he thought she was older. Like this is the twentieth century or something.” 

“You seem to know a lot about them. How’d you find them?” 

He shrugged. “I was dating a girl in high school. Her dad ran a genetic research lab, he had access to the Federation database.Dennis Barnaby and Rona Goldman came up. A few computer searches and some details after I got in Starfleet.” 

“Did you ever try to meet them?”

“I met him.” He paused. “It did not go well.” 

“And her?” 

He shook his head. “Lost the nerve. Besides, I’ve got two moms.” 

“Is she always like that?,” asked Hawthorne. 

“The Emperor?” 

They had gone to one of the Charon’s observation decks. Their exit was not unnoticed but Lorca had noted Georgiou’s pleased expression as they left. 

“Michael Burnham,” said Hawthorne. “She has quite the crush on you.” 

“No-” 

“Don’t ignore it. She’s the heiress apparent. It could be useful someday.” She turned back to him. “Though the Emperor does really want us to get married.” 

“Does she?” 

“I’m going to assume you’re playing dumb so I’ll say what I know when you don’t need to manipulate me, Gabriel. You could just ask me.” 

That was interesting. 

“How do you know she wants us to get married?” 

“She suggested you and Kat to Nana, but Nana knew that wouldn’t work, so she had to go down the family line and that’s where I come in. The Emperor suggests me to your mothers and let’s face it, they are going to take any suggestion she has very seriously. So I end up with your mothers practically checking my dental records... “ She paused. “That’s how I know she wants us to get married. I just don’t know why.” 

“She’d like to control me.” 

“Do you think I’m here to control you?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Would I ask you that if I was?” 

“Maybe. To throw me off.” 

“I’m not here to control you. I’m here to help you.” 

“Why would I need help?” 

She stepped closer. “All of your support comes from the Emperor. That is great for moving ahead like you have but no way to achieve more. Let’s face the fact, you can achieve more and more importantly you want to achieve more.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I think that’s treason.” 

“Are you going to turn me in?”

“No,” he answered. “You would be wasted in an agony booth.” 

“You’re damn right about that. Now, you need a wider base of support, one you can trust and that means someone like me who comes with just what you need. A built in network and say what you want about our house, we don’t fuck each other over. Not to mention, we’ve stagnated since the First Sato. We’re ready for more.”

“But if the Emperor suggested you-” 

“Don’t dismiss an idea just because someone else had it.”  

“No…” 

“Besides, I’m a great fuck.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“You did realize that if we got married and since children are half the point of these things, we would need to have sex?” 

“Yes…” 

“No reason we shouldn’t enjoy it.”

* * *

“What?”

Gabe had spent the morning standing behind Letty while she worked on the upgrade. He pretended he could help. 

She turned back. “What?” 

“Nothing. You…” He stepped forward, casting a glance at the rest of the team. “You’re just so beautiful.” 

Letty has been aboard several weeks now and as cheesy as it sounded, the world looked different.

She glanced back at him, batting her eyelashes. He knew she meant it as a gentle mocking gesture, but…

“Well, nobody can reorder processor circuits like me…”

Daystrom entered. “Need any help?”

And there he was. Always guaranteed to make an appearance when he thought he could interrupt. Letty didn’t seem to realize the man was in love with her, but Gabe wasn’t sure Daystrom knew. For all the purported genius of Geneva’s boy wonder, he seemed better at interacting with the computer than the crew. 

“I’ve got this,” said Letty. 

“And him?”

“Lieutenant Lorca is helping.” 

Daystrom gave up and went away. 

“Okay, he definitely likes you,” Gabe whispered when Daystrom was out of earshot. 

“Yes, I’m the only one who understands what the hell he’s talking about.” 

Gabe stepped forward. “How smart are you?” 

“You want me to put a number on it?” 

“Can you put a number on it?”

“Even modern intelligence tests have a cultural bias. Just like the Vulcan horses and Andorian Steeds beating your Thoroughbreds.Maybe I don’t score so high on a Vulcan intelligence test, but I always beat them on Queen lyrics.” 

“So… all you’re going to tell me is that you know more Queen songs than a Vulcan?” 

“You’ve obviously never seen one of them try to sing Bohemian Rhapsody.” 

An alarm went off. 

“What’s that?,” asked Letty. 

“Red alert. I’ve got to get to the bridge.”

Gabe gave her a quick kiss and ran. Fuck. First fucking red alert since he had been here and he was in engineering. He stepped in the turbolift and found Daystrom. 

“Bridge,” he said and nothing moved. 

He went back to the door. It didn’t move, either. Gabe turned to Daystrom. 

“We’re stuck.” 

“You are out of your league.” 

Gabe motioned at the siren and flashing lights. “You mind if we do this later?” 

“There is no red alert-” 

“Pretty sure there is.” 

“I set off the red alert.”

“You set off a red alert? That’s a felony.” 

“I needed to talk to you.” 

Gabe sighed. “Couldn’t you just punch me like a normal person?”

“I’m sure you’d like that. Dr. Cornwell has a fine mind and you-” 

“Yeah, I get it. I’m the stupid Starfleet security officer.” 

“We’re in agreement. Dr. Cornwell could achieve so much if you don’t distract her. Now, I am asking you to back off.”

“So, this is all about her mind and nothing else?”

“The work is far too important for anything else.” 

Gabe snorted. “You must have been fun as a kid.”  

The door finally opened. Letty, George and Captain Garcia were outside. 

“Dr. Cornwell, mind telling Dr. Daystrom what you told me?” 

Letty did not look amused. “It seems as if someone realigned the processors so that opening that panel- you know the one there inside the turbolift- also activated the binary in the red alert protocols. Which is weird because that’s a totally jackass thing to do. And it would take like an hour, which really seems like a waste of an hour. Especially when you’re just going to have to fix it-” 

“I’ll fix it-” said Daystrom. 

“You will touch nothing else on my ship,” said Garcia. 

Daystrom rolled his eyes. “It will take your engineering team hours to put back-” 

Garcia pointed at Letty without even looking at her. “How long will it take you?” 

“An hour, Half an hour if Lieutenant Lorca helps.” 

“Go. Lorca,” said Garcia. 

Gabe followed Letty dutifully to one of the servo rooms. She shut the door behind him. 

“What am I doing to help you?” 

She pushed him against the wall and put her mouth over his. 

“What are you doing?,” asked Gabe. “Captain Garcia is going to flip if you don’t realign those-”

“It’s going to take me five minutes.” 

“Do you just make up numbers?” 

“When it suits me. Captain Garcia was thinking it might be better if I stay awhile and complete the work myself. What do you think?” 

“Don’t you have work to get back to?” 

“You don’t want me to stay?” 

“No, I want you to stay, I just don’t want you to stay because you think that I want you to stay, which, obviously I do-”

“Gabe.” 

He stopped. 

“I’m not Kat. I won’t run halfway across the galaxy to get away from the possibility of commitment.” 

He took a breath. “Heard about that, did you?” 

“Yeah, we all heard about it.” 

Gabe took a minute. 

“I really want you to stay.” 

Letty smiled. “I really want to stay.” 

* * *

“There are no chairs.” 

Hawthorne turned to face him. 

Lorca shrugged. “Yeah, you caught me.” 

“Where do you sit?” She walked over to the table and seemed to be appraising it. 

“I don’t.” 

“Suppose your security chief out there, what’s her name?”

“Landry?” 

“ Yeah, Landry, what do you do when she wants a quick fuck?” 

“How did you-” 

“Gabriel, when are you going to accept the fact that I am really, really smart?” 

“I’ve accepted it. I just haven’t gotten used to it yet.” 

“Having someone smarter than you around?”

“And prettier.” 

She stepped forward. “So, what do you do?” 

“With Landry?” 

“Mm-hmm.” She put her arms around his neck. 

“I usually pin her against the wall.” 

“Facing you or the wall?” 

“The wall.” 

“But me, you wouldn’t pin facing away from you?” 

“No.” He tried to keep from smiling. “There are things I want to see.”

“Show me.” 

He put his mouth against hers and gripped his hands under her thighs. In a swift movement, he had her against the wall. She was participating, though, her hands rushing to undo his trousers. His cock sprang free and he ripped her underwear away to enter her welcoming heat. 

And she was not quiet. God, she was too good at understanding that he needed his crew to hear her. A captain who fucked around was good for discipline. 

He finished and slowly released her to the floor, their breathing heavy. 

“This is why you need a chair,” she said. 

He nodded. Gabriel wanted to say something to her but for whatever reason he didn’t have the vocabulary. 

“Have you…” She looked up inquisitively as he tried to formulate something. “Have you done this before?” 

“Fucked against a wall, yes? Fucked in a captain’s ready room, no…” 

“No, been in this type of situation before.” 

“What situation?” 

“Us. This thing.”  “Relationship?” 

“I guess.” 

“Nothing like this. I’ve had lovers. I have needs. I’m partial to the occasional Orion girl.” 

Lorca nodded. “That’s a mental image I won’t be able to lose.” 

“Then maybe we should do it together sometime.” 

Was there anything he didn’t love about this woman? 

They walked out to the bridge where his crew tried to act nonchalant. A quick look at Landry confirmed she was less good at hiding her emotions. 

“Anan 7, have you been?,” asked Hawthorne.

“I think so. I’ve been almost everywhere.”

“A war by computers where everyone willingly walked to their deaths. And the rebels want to call us savages.” She looked at him. “Do you know the administrator? Robert Fox?”

“No. Do you?”

“I know his wife. He’s very new power.”

Lorca snorted. “Like me.”

“No, not like you. You’re second in command of the whole Empire. He’s in charge of some stupid planet no one ever heard of.” She turned back to face him. “The point is, you should host him. He’ll be ecstatic to have someone as important as you give him a second look.”

The turbo lift doors opened. Lorca saw it before she did. The knife going for her back.

She was his to protect. 

He jumped in front of her his back to her assailant.

* * *

 

“Who was she?”

Lorca sighed. He had been stabbed in the back. He had been through worse, but never with anyone to take care of him. 

It was weird. 

Hawthorne gently applied some ointment. ”You’re going to have a scar if you don’t get that taken care of.” She bent down and kissed the back of his neck. “So? Who was she?”

“I don’t know.”

“Gabriel…”

“I really don’t. She hadn’t even been here that long.”

She rubbed his back, below the scar. “Really. You should get someone to take care of that.” 

“I think I’ll keep it.” 

“Why?” 

He dozed off before he could answer. 


	14. "The Most Exhausting Thing In Life Is Being Insincere."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. 
> 
> I reserve the right to use all the Queen lyrics I want.

Kat handed Gabe a mask as they stood at the entrance to the cave.

“What’s this?”

“The mines will make you crazy.”

“Is Emmy going to be okay?,” he asked putting his on. 

“The effect dissipates once you leave. I’ve had one of my crew bring an oxygen canister.”

“What about the Andarnans?”

“Why would we give them masks?”

Right. Dumb question.

Kat motioned. “We traced them here.”

They walked single file down the mine. One of Kat’s men was on point, another few buffering them from Kodos’ forces. He suspected this was why Kat had come, she didn’t want to leave him alone with them. It probably wasn’t a great idea.

“You love her.”

“What?”

“It’s okay, Gabriel. You can have a genuine feeling every now and again.”

He nodded. “You care about her.”

“She’s a sweet kid. Curious. Ambitious…”

“Ambitious?”

“You haven’t bought into Hawthorne’s worrying, have you? That she’s too sensitive, not strong enough?”

He had, actually. 

“She’s half yours. You know as well as I do it’s the quiet ones you have to look out for.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” said a new voice.

They looked up to see a redhead wearing an Imperial uniform and pointing a phaser at them.

“Captain Killy,” said Kat. “I should have known the Andarnans weren’t smart enough for something like this.”

“Killy? Is that your name?”

“We’ve met before,” said Killy.

“Have we?”

“Yes, of course we have.”

“No, not ringing a bell.”

He caught Kat’s half smile under the mask. She thought he was just screwing around with her.

“It doesn’t matter that you don’t seem to remember me-“

“Did I not have sex with you or something? Is that it?”

“We did have sex! You asshole!”

Was there someone out here Lorca didn’t have sex with? Anyone. 

“Enough. Where’s Emmy?”

“I have instructions from the Emperor to bring you straight to her. You too, Cornwell. Emmy will be safe as an imperial guest aboard the Charon.”

She was still trying to get Lorca back for her daughter. 

An eye for an eye.

“I have to see her.”

“Do you think I’m that stupid?”

“You think I’m going to hand myself over without even being certain you have her?”

Killy spoke into her comm. “Bring her out.”

Two of Killy’s men brought out Emmy. 

“I’m sorry, Daddy.”

“No, it’s okay, you don’t have anything to be sorry about-“

“She did let herself get kidnapped,” said Killy.

“And when I want your parenting advice, I’ll ask for it!,” Gabe snapped.

“Gabriel,” said Kat. She looked at Emmy. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

“Yes.”

“You haven’t lost anything?”

“What-“

Before Gabe could work that out, Emmy had throw herself on the ground and Kat started firing. Her people had followed and Gabe found himself crawling over to Emmy and shielding her.

The firing stopped. 

“Jesus, Gabriel, we weren’t going to shoot Emmy. Tell your dad he worries too much.”

Gabe got up, letting Emmy stand next to him. She had a grin on her face.

“What did I miss?,” he asked. 

“Emmy didn’t tell you her signal,” said Kat. “That was naughty, young lady.”

“Her signal?”

“In a hostage situation, we ask if she’s lost anything, that’s her signal to get down. She learned it when she was two. No child of the great Terran houses sets foot outside the family compound without one. I should have known your family was too… new, I suppose is the polite term.” Kat smiled at Emmy. "Good girl." 

* * *

 

“Mommy!,” exclaimed Emmy. 

Gabe looked up in amazement to see Hawthorne walking around their quarters. 

Though not well. She held her hand to her side as some very nervous Kelpiens stood around. 

“Should you be in sickbay?” 

“I’m fine.” 

“You took a full disruptor blast-” 

“And Culber fixed it.” 

“Where’s Nana?” 

“Nana went back to her ship once the internal bleeding had stopped.” 

Gabe moved Emmy towards one of the Kelpiens. “Would you clean her up?” 

The Kelpien nodded and took her away. 

“You should lay down,” said Gabe. 

She shook her head. “I can’t lay down, it hurts too much.” 

“Didn’t Culber give you painkillers?”

“Right. Let me do that. I’ll be dead by morning, nothing will hurt then. My child will be alone in the universe-“

“Emmy would not be alone in the universe. What the hell are you talking about?”

“Okay, maybe not, but I’d definitely be dead once Landry or one of your other tramps takes advantage of my incapacitation. Which one do you think it will be?”

It clicked for Gabe. In this universe, being injured was like being a wounded gazelle in front of a lion. You needed to live long enough to recover.

“Okay, I’m here,” he said.

“Your point?”

“You really think I’ve got a plan to kill you?”

Hawthorne shrugged. “Not a plan per se.”

“Bed.”

Gabe followed her to her bedroom and dealt with all of her complaining. He managed to use the hypospray Culber delivered after Gabe made several thinly veiled threats. She finally seemed to calm enough and fell half asleep in his lap. 

Gabe sighed, absentmindedly stroking her hair. 

He used to do the same for Letty. She had two miscarriages before they had Emmy. Always in the first trimester, so many things medical science could solve but not that. 

“Don’t stop.”

Gabe realized he had been singing.

“I miss that song.”

Did they have the same song?

“Love of my life, don’t leave me…”

How the hell did they have Freddie Mercury in this universe? 

“You've broken my heart and now you leave me Love of my life, can't you see? Bring it back, bring it back. Don't take it away from me, because you don't know, what it means to me…”


	15. "Be alert for new opportunities in business and pleasure."

“Captain Lorca, regulations prohibit-” 

Lorca sighed as the ensign parroted Starfleet regulations at him. Emmy and Jacob were at his side. 

He had to bring them aboard. That way if he ever needed to bring them aboard again, nobody would think anything of it.  

“This is a classified installation.” 

“Yes, I know. I’m the captain of it.” 

The ensign frowned. “I’ll have to note the log.” 

“You do that.” 

They beamed aboard Discovery. It looked like Killy’s ship just with the same human eye for interior design. 

Of course he had only been to Killy’s ship that one time. A trip to meet the new captain. God, how much did he have to drink that night? He exchanged pleasantries with the transporter chief and promised he would find his own way. 

“This is your new ship, Daddy?,” asked Jacob. 

“It is.” 

He glanced at Jacob. The boy was in awe. What would he think of a galaxy? 

“You have to go again,” Emmy said with defeat. 

He squeezed her hand. “Let’s not worry about that yet, okay?” 

With any luck that could be avoided. He led them to the turbolift and took it to the spore lab. 

“You said Mommy was here.” 

“Yeah, Mommy is here.” 

“Mommy doesn’t work in space.” 

“Bud, do you have any idea how smart your mommy is?” 

Jacob shrugged. They walked through the door to the spore hub. 

Oh, speaking of Captain Killy. There she was at a science station. A cadet? He had asked for her, of course, hidden among a long list of requests, but he had missed the rank. Well, he supposed promotions took longer when killing your superiors was generally frowned upon. 

“Are those kids?,” she asked. “I mean of course they’re kids, Captain, oh, Captain-” 

“At ease, Cadet.” 

“What’s that?,” asked Jacob pointing at the enclosure for the spores. 

“Go have a look,” said Lorca.

“Uh, that, he shouldn’t be touching that-” Tilly said frantically. 

“It’s fine,” said Lorca. He took a look behind the glass. 

No interface. Great. 

“Is that a kid touching my spore hub? What the hell is a kid doing here?! Security!” 

Ah, Stamets. He emerged looking positively manic. 

He heard Letty. “Don’t be ridiculous. There’s not a-” 

Letty came out. 

“Mommy!” 

Jacob ran towards her, wrapping his arms around her. 

“He’s yours?,” Stamets sneered. “What’s he doing here?” 

“I brought him,” said Lorca. 

Stamets shook his head.“Is it a holiday I didn’t know about? Who gave you authorization to bring kids into my lab?” 

“I did.” 

“And who the hell are you?” 

Lorca had forgotten how much of an ass Stamets could be when he was conscious. 

“I’m the captain.” 

“Would you excuse us for a minute?,” said Letty. 

“Who’s gonna watch these two-” asked Stamets. 

“Cadet Tilly, watch them,” said Letty. 

Lorca tried to stop that, no way should Captain Killy be watching his kids. “I don’t think that’s a great-” 

“Now, Gabriel.” 

“There is something sticky on my spore hub!,” Stamets shouted after them.

Letty pulled him into an empty lab. 

“Are you telling me that you’re the captain of this nightmare?” 

“Kat asked me.” 

“Well, she sure as hell didn’t tell me.” 

“Well, sorry-” 

“This ship is not ready, okay? The spore drive’s navigation is entirely probabilistic-” 

“Okay-” 

“No, shut up and listen to a science major, okay? For this thing to be any damn good at all you need to decrease the number of possibilities and there is no way to do that fast enough and I know this because I am the one who makes processors go faster.” 

“Letty-“

“Don’t take this ship out.”

“It’s my job.”

“Get a different one.”

“I’m trying to win a war.” 

“And I’m trying to not be a fucking widow! I did that for a couple of days not that long ago, Gabe, I wasn’t a fan of it.” 

“I’m not dying.”

She sighed. “Promise me you’re not trying to prove something because of the Buran.”

He could do that honestly at least. “I promise I am not trying to prove something.”

“And you won’t do anything stupid?”

“I will not do anything stupid.”

After all, his current plan was quite well thought out.

They went back into the corridor where they ran directly into Ellen Landry. Of course he had requested her. It was Lorca’s first encounter with this version of her, but he quickly surmised it was not Letty’s.

“Captain Lorca,” said Landry. “Mrs. Lorca.”

The look Letty gave him was clearly a shorthand for what the actual fuck was he thinking? 

“Commander Landry,” said Letty. “It’s been a while.”

“It has.”

“What’s up with you? Anyone special?”

Shit. She was not even fooling around.

“No,” said Landry startled.

“That’s such a shame. You should get out more.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Well, it’s not like you’re going to meet anyone at work, is it?,” she asked pointedly. 

Tilly emerged. “Doctor Cornwell, I know you said to watch them and I was watching them and actually Emmy is right there still and she has your eyes, Captain, but I bet you hear that all the time-“

Lorca couldn’t take it. He didn’t remember Killy being so stream of consciousness, but then again he really didn’t remember a lot of what she had said. Had she drugged him? “Cadet, you were going somewhere with this?”

“Stamets told Jacob to go hide somewhere and I think he might be in the Jefferies’ Tubes?”

Landry looked amused. Letty followed back into the lab. 

“I heard you were back home. I thought-“

“Commander,” said Lorca, “after I retrieve my son, could you possibly work on making this ship’s most sensitive system not penetrable by a five year old?”

“Sir?”

“If he can climb into the tubes from there, there’s nothing to stop anyone else from getting in, is there?”

“No, sir. I’ll see to it, sir.” 

“Get it done.” 

Lorca went back in the spore hub. Stamets had turned nearly crimson.

“Captain, I cannot be expected to work under these conditions!” 

“Of course not,” sad Letty emerging with Jacob in hand. “You’re a man. You can’t multitask. Here.” 

She put Jacob’s hand in Gabe’s. 

“You really couldn’t find anyone else?”

Landry. Wow, she was not about to let that one go. Had Gabe been a naughty boy? Lorca dismissed the notion. Gabe didn’t have any mysterious female contacts in his comm, no hints of indiscretion in his personnel file and he had a wife who was frankly scaring him a little.Not to mention Landry didn’t act like they had fucked. She accepted the assignment so fast he nearly had whiplash. 

He decided it was in his best interests to lie. “I tried, but you know, Kat…” 

Letty rolled her eyes. Okay, she seemed to accept that. Hopefully she wouldn’t follow up on it. Soon enough, she was called away by another crewmember. 

Lorca turned to Stamets. “Lieutenant Stamets, I want a report on the operational readiness of the spore drive on my desk by fifteen hundred hours.” 

Stamets looked stricken. “I’m too busy working to write reports-” 

“You know, she thinks it can’t work.” 

Stamets looked back at Letty. “Are you playing me against your wife?”  “No. I’m simply telling you what the smartest person I know told me.” 

“She’s a programmer, she doesn’t have a background in biophysics.” 

“I’m pretty sure she’s got the gist of it.” 

“It works. It’s just how far it works-” Lorca raised his brow and Stamets hurried to finish. “And we’ll get it there.” 

“Great. I’m looking forward to it. Jacob, let’s go see the bridge. Emmy, come one.” 

Lorca turned back to where Killy was giving Emmy a lesson on the computer console. 

“Emmy, baby, come on.”

Emmy excused herself. Lorca led them back in the corridor. 

“That guy was weird,” said Jacob. 

“Bud, you have no idea.” 

“Tilly was nice,” said Emmy. 

“Wouldn’t count on it, baby,” he warned. 


	16. "A part of us remains wherever we have been."

Gabe was home. His face was buried in Letty’s neck. He pushed aside her hair to place kisses on her neck. 

She moaned and pushed back against him.

She felt so good, so soft and where the hell did she learn to do that thing where she rubbed her ass against his hardening cock?

Only it wasn’t Letty. 

Fuck.

“Sorry,” said Gabe, backing away from her. 

“No-“

“Excuse me.”

Gabe locked himself in the bathroom. Sleeping with Hawthorne in his bed was the only way she had slept while she recovered. It did come with other hazards, mostly that she looked and felt like someone he missed very much. He turned on the sonic shower and got in. 

When he was finally brave enough to emerge she was gone, he went out to the dining area where one of the Kelpiens waited on Emmy.

“Good Morning, Daddy.”

“Good Morning, baby.” He sat next to her, placing a kiss on her cheek. “What is for breakfast?”

She grimaced and he looked down. A Taspar egg. For all they were violently racist towards aliens, the Terrans loved eating any of their so-called delicacies. The lizard squirmed in its shell.

“Okay, how about some cereal, baby?” He looked up at the Kelpien. “Would you take this away and get her some cereal?”

The Kelpien looked confused. “What should I do with this?”

Gabe shrugged. “I don’t know. You have it.”

“Thank you,” the Kelpien stammered.

Gabe turned to Emmy. She had a PADD next to her. “What’s that?” 

“Nana sent my schoolwork with my things. She said I need a new tutor, but I have to study on my own for now.” 

“Oh, yeah?” Gabe took the PADD and read it over. 

Terran First Contact protocols. He glanced at Emmy. What these Terrans did to their children, turning them into cold-blooded killers, warping their sense of right and wrong... 

“Do you have a math book or something?,” he asked. 

“I’m better than you at math,” Hawthorne said. 

She entered the room and sat on the sofa. 

“Care to join us?,” asked Gabe. 

“No.” 

Gabe smiled at Emmy. “One minute, baby.” 

Gabe walked over to Hawthorne. 

She was avoiding eye contact. 

“Look, about this morning-” he began. 

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” she said. 

He was doomed. 

“I’m not attractive anymore, I get it. And you have Emmy so it’s not as if there’s any need for us to-”

“You’re very attractive.” 

“No. Fine. I get it, though, you know Landry and I are almost the same age, but I know you don’t look at her face, so…” She shrugged. “She probably works out.” 

What the hell was she talking about? Gabe suddenly remembered that Letty’s own misgivings over Landry began after Jacob was born and an uncharacteristic lack of confidence. 

“I’m not talking about Landry. I’m talking about you-” 

Hawthorne sighed, putting down her own PADD. “Did you ever wonder how Nana became head of our House? One she married into?” 

“No.” 

“My grandfather was head of the house. It was right after Nana’s fiftieth, he thought she had… outlived her usefulness. He thought he could do more for the house with a new wife. Divorce can get very complicated, but poisoning is so much quicker. Nana’s cocktails aren’t cocktails, they’re antidotes to the poison that’s still inside of her.” 

“And are you going to tell me what happened to Grandpa?” 

“The man had to sleep sometime.” 

He had known Nana had it in her. 

God, she was a scary woman. 

“So,” Hawthorne concluded, “if you could just kindly hold off on getting rid of me until Emmy is old enough. Twenty, preferably, make it look like I just went away in my sleep.” 

“Hawthorne-” 

“Because the sad truth, Gabriel, is I will never be able to hurt you.” 

How was he supposed to respond to that? 

As he began to grapple with that question, Emmy screamed. They turned to see her Kelpien writhing on the floor. 

Apparently, a Kelpien dead on the floor was not cause for alarm. 

“My apologies, Captain,” said the lead Kelpien. “He was very rude to die while on his shift for Mistress Emmy.” 

“That’s not really my issue. Why is he dead? Why is no one-” 

Just then, the wriggling taspar came out of the dead Kelpien’s mouth. 

The egg. Emmy’s breakfast. 

He was back at Tarsus IV. 

“I’m sorry, Captain. He never should have-” 

“Where did the Taspar eggs come from?” 

“One moment.” 

The Kelpien looked up something on his PADD. 

“They came on the ship from Stratos.”

He shook his head. “Did Nana or Kat-” 

The Kelpien waited a long time to answer. 

“They were a gift from Commander Landry.” 

Landry. 

The rage he felt was the same as the rage he felt back then. Starfleet officers weren’t supposed to feel rage, they were supposed to do their duties as usual: clear, cool-headed. But he… 

“Gabriel-” said Hawthorne. 

Gabe picked up the armored top of his uniform and put it on. His phaser, the dagger. He couldn't hear her as he walked out of his quarters. 

_ “Lieutenant Commander Lorca, there is one other matter…”  _

_ A Starfleet inquiry into every last detail on Tarsus IV. Including his actions.  _

_ Gabe waited. What else could they possibly have to talk about? They had been over and over, back and forth.  _

_ Admiral Chao looked at him. “Two colony security officers came to your quarters. One is dead. Care to explain how that happened?” _

_ “The Colony Forces killed two of my people and stole the phaser cannons that they used to kill four thousand more.”  _

_ “But this was before the execution.”  _

_ He shifted in his seat.  _

_ “According to your wife’s statement, she shot one with the standard issue phaser-”  _

_ “Is she on trial?”  _

_ “No one is on trial,” Admiral Ruiz chimed in. The head of Starfleet security. “And no one is suggesting you would not have been right to defend yourself and your family-”  _

_ “That weapon was set to stun and yet the man you shot was dead.”  _

_ “I shot him with his comrade’s weapon which I did not set.”  _

_ “Did you realize it was set to kill?”  _

_ Of course he had.  _

_ “I assumed it was.”  _

_ “Did you think of changing the setting?”  _

_ “I didn’t have time.”  _

_ He had not cared.  _

_ “How long would it have taken?”  _

_ “I don’t know.”  _

_ “Five seconds? Ten?”  _

_ “I was not in a position to find out.”  _

_ He had tried to kill Emmy and for that he could die. Him? Fine. He was a grown man, he could take care of himself. Emmy? He could die.  _

So could Landry.

The turbolift door opened and the bridge crew saluted him. 

“Commander  Landry.” 

“Captain?” 

“Could I see your sidearm?” 

She nearly laughed. “Excuse me?” 

Nori’s hand was at her own phaser. The rest of the bridge crew were a mix of wanting to see the drama unfold or trying very hard to mind their own damn business. 

“It was not a request.” 

She handed it to him, just starting to become so slightly nervous. He put it in his waistband and took out the dagger. 

“Emmy, as it turns out, doesn’t like Taspar eggs.” 

He saw the flicker in Landry’s eyes between fear and regret. 

“Gabriel, you can’t believe that I-” 

“The Kelpien told me they were a gift from you.” 

“You have to hear me out-” 

“I don’t have to do shit.” 

She reached for her knife, but Gabe had been palming the handle of his since he stepped outside his quarters. 

He could have said it was a surprise when the knife went in her throat, but it was not. When she thudded to the ground? No. 

“Any complaints?,” Gabe asked the crew. “Because now is the time, people.” 

“No, Captain,” said Nori.

“No, Captain,” the bridge crew echoed. 

“I’ll be in my ready room. I want her gone when I come back.” 

Gabe escaped into Lorca’s ready room, locking the door. 

He had spent a lot of time trying to persuade himself that he was different from Gabriel Lorca, this man who conquered worlds and kept war mementos in his ready room instead of photos and his kids’ artwork, but was he? 

Well, fuck. 


	17. "Love because it is the only true adventure."

Saru.

This Kelpien had a name.

Of course, he had never thought about that. The Kelpiens did probably have names amongst themselves, they couldn’t all go, “Hey, Kelpien.”

He seemed to have inherited a few of the Shenzhou’s crew. He would like to inherit Burnham, but that would have to wait.

He was surprised to find the Kelpien very smart, very efficient. It was the first time he had been posted as First Officer and he was eager to make a good impression. Kat had offered him more seasoned candidates, but one was a Vulcan and the other a Betazoid. He would take his chances with someone who couldn’t read his mind.

So here he was headed to a war with a Kelpien, an interface-less spore drive and a not battle-hardened crew.

If he didn’t need that spore drive, he doubted he would have the motivation to go.  

What made Gabe go?

Lorca beamed to the front porch and went inside, the lights lowering.

“Hey, baby.”

Emmy tried to ignore him. She was even madder over his potential leaving than her mother.

“Is that you, Gabe?”

Letty’s sister, Taylor, had been enlisted to help watch the kids.

“Yeah.”

“Jacob and I are making cookies. We’re just finishing up!”

“Sounds good.” Lorca sat down by Emmy. It was then he noticed that she was reading Surak’s primer.

That damn book.

“Where did you find it?,” he asked.

“In the excess storage for the matter resequencer. That’s where Jacob always hides my stuff.”

Damn. That kid really was like him.

“Why don’t you put that away and tell me how school was?”

“I’m almost finished.”

Where was he going to hide the damn thing this time?

“The book told me why you have to go.”

“It did?”

“Logic says the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. The Federation needs you more than I do. For the war.”

Lorca was horrified and he was not a man who horrified easily.

“Emmy, that is so wrong.” He took away the padd. “This is, this-”

Idiotic alien philosophy was what he wanted to say, but apparently such honesty was frowned upon here.

“Everything Humans have ever done that was great was not about logic. It was about passion, ambition, curiosity. Maybe Vulcans would be destroyed by their emotions, but not us. They make us better. Stronger. We would be nothing without them.”  He sighed. “Do you think I wouldn’t come back to you?”

She was quiet,contemplative.

“When we thought you died, I was mad at you.”

“That’s okay.”

“Mommy said it wasn’t your fault, that you can’t control everything.”

“That’s true, but Mommy has forgotten that there’s a thing called destiny. Do you know what destiny is?”

“No.”

“Destiny is what controls our lives and I know my destiny drove me to you…”

That was true, wasn’t it? Destiny had brought him to this universe’s Buran, to Earth, to the family he should have made for himself years ago. Now destiny had given him a ship, a way home to win an empire for them.

“Destiny will bring me back to you.”

The door opened. A blonde entered.

“Oh, hey, Gabe. I haven’t seen you this whole time you’ve been back and now you’re leaving again!”

He had literally no idea who this woman was.

“Well, give me a hug.”

Lorca stood. Was this woman in the wedding photos? She hugged.

“Emmy, darlin’, would you run to the pod and help the boys? We’ve got some things to bring in.”

“Okay, Cousin Ava.”

Ava. A cousin. Not his.

“Can I help?”

“Party’s in your honor, silly. You can’t help.”

“Party?”

He followed her into the kitchen. It wasn’t just Taylor and Jacob, but also Emerson. Lorca had never actually met Hawthorne’s mother in his universe, but she was a frequent visitor here. If Emerson was any indication he had a promising looking future with Letty.

“Oh, Ava, you’re here.”

“I brought the oysters.”

“Good.”

“What’s going on?,” asked Lorca.

“Oh, hello, Gabe.” Emerson handed a platter to Taylor. ”Put the cookies on there. Gabe, do you know what your first officer eats?,” asked Emerson. “I looked up Kelpiens in the Federation database and there wasn’t much, definitely not what they eat.”

“What is happening?”

“Your going away party,” said Taylor.

“We can’t break with tradition this time, saw what happened when we tried that.”

“So you invited my first officer?”

“Of course. Letty invited your senior staff,” said Emerson.

“I’ve got a veggie tray. He should eat veggies, right?,” asked Ava.

“What? Stamets?! But she hates him?”

Taylor shrugged. “When has that ever stopped us from inviting someone?”

Yes, that did sound like the same sort of twisted logic Hawthorne would have used, a combination of southern gentility and Machiavellian politics.

“Did she invite Landry?,” he asked.

“Is that the one she said she was keeping an eye on?,” asked Ava.

* * *

 

Lorca wandered the party. This place was a minefield. Relatives he didn’t recognize and this damn crew.

The doorbell rang.

“Gabe! Would you get that?,” Emerson shouted.

He hadn’t realized he would be under the command of his mother-in-law.

“Yeah, sure.”

He opened it to find Stamets and Culber? One of the junior medical officers?

“Captain,” said Stamets.

“Lieutenant.”

“Captain Lorca,” said Culber with a pointed look at his partner, “thank you so much for having us in your lovely home.”

“Welcome,” Letty said coming up to his side.

“Hugh, this is Dr. Cornwell.”

“Letty,” she supplied. “Nice to meet you. No idea what your husband’s been telling you.”

Culber chuckled. “He does tend to be a little dramatic when it comes to work.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” said Letty.

She directed them to join the others and he followed her to the kitchen, hoping for a respite.

“Commander Saru,” said Letty as she walked into the kitchen. “You are a guest in this house and cannot clean dishes.”

“I merely wanted to help. Among my people, it’s a sign of disrespect to let your host toil.”

“Well, we’re among my people so I win.”

She took the tray from him in what had to be the first time Lorca had seen a Kelpien taken away from a menial task. Saru left as Letty seemed to get very angry with the dishes.

“Something going on?,” asked Lorca.

“Oh, you mean other than my husband going off to do battle with a brutal warrior race in an experimental ship that doesn’t work?”

“Yeah, other than that.”

She glared at him.

“Oh, fuck you, Gabe.”

“Excuse me?”

“I think you pretty much grasped the meaning the first time.”

“Fine. You’re getting emotional-“

She turned around slowly to face him and Lorca realized that was exactly the wrong fucking thing to say.

“I’m getting what?”

“I-“

“How many times have I begged you not to go? How many times have I stood and cried as you left?”

“Uh…”

It would have been great to know the answer to that.

“Zero. Zero is the number you’re looking for. I’ve never tried to stop you and i thought that might have bought me some credibility.”

“Nana wants to give a toast, guys,” said Taylor popping her head in. She looked between them. “Or I could tell her to wait?”

“No. Everything’s just great.”

Letty stormed out of the kitchen. Lorca followed and soon had a drink thrust in his hand.Nana had taken center stage.

“To our new friends the crew of the Discovery. May your war be a short one and you return home safe. And to Gabriel and Hawthorne Leticia, may you be reunited to see the birth of your new child together.”

What. The. Fuck.

The crew drank and Letty’s family exploded into congratulatory mode as Taylor and Emerson quietly swore they hadn’t said a word to Nana.

Letty looked just about ready to die.

Lorca wasn’t faring much better as he dodged more congratulations to chase Letty upstairs.

“Letty.”

“What?!”

“You-“ He didn’t even know where to start. This wasn’t a conversation he ever had. Measures were always taken to make certain conception never occurred, the one exception having been Hawthorne and nothing had ever happened with that.

Gabe Lorca would have known what to do.

“You’re pregnant?”

“Yeah.”

“Were you going to mention it?”

“I don’t know how Nana mentioned it!”

“Letty-“

“This is really not a good time. There is way too much shit going on-“

Lorca closed the distance between them. “I promise I will be back to take care of you and the kids including this baby.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“Yes, I can. It’s destiny.”

“Oh, my God, your family and the damn fortune cookies.”

“I’ll be back.” He kissed her.

A baby.

Well, fuck.


	18. "This person's love is just and true. You may rely on it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I switched up the narrator this couple of chapters for good reason, so remember Prime!Lorca is playing the part of Lorca and Mirror!Lorca is playing the part of Gabe.

* * *

 

_ “Love of my life, don’t leave me…” _

Hawthorne waited. The look on Gabriel’s face when he left.

Landry was dead by now. She knew it. Maybe she had privately wished that a piano would fall on the first officer, after all, Space was a dangerous place but she had never thought it would end up with Lorca killing her. 

The look on his face. Of course she’d seen him kill before. Killing was a matter of efficacy to him, but this was rage. The same as when he told her he had found his father. 

Dennis Barnaby had been a washed up soldier. Lorca found him in a bar at some Andorian Mining Camp. He was a nobody. The greatest accomplishment of his military career had been inadvertently fathering Gabriel Lorca. 

Lorca had reached out, wondering where he came from. Barnaby laughed at him and told him they had nothing to do with each other.

And Lorca had killed him. Then he’d come to her seeking what, absolution? It was too quaint an idea to fathom. 

She gave it to him anyway.

Because she would give him anything. 

The door opened. Lorca walked in and began stripping off his armor. She tried to quell the inadvertent response she had. Once she had thought she might come from him taking off his jacket and a well-arranged eyebrow alone. That was what it was like being in love with him.

Hawthorne finally realized now that she was back with him she had never stopped loving him and she never would. The one thing that might have stopped it was fear for Emmy and she now knew that he would never hurt her. 

Lorca sat down. “Are you still listening to this?”

“Freddie Mercury? Of course he’s the only man who never disappointed me.”

He snorted mirthlessly which she thought was odd.

“Where’s Emmy?”

“She’s reading Sun Tzu.”

“What if she doesn’t want to?”

“Everybody reads Sun Tzu-“

He looked at her. “Suppose she doesn’t want to be an Emperor.”

She shook her head. “That’s not a choice she can make. You’re going to be Emperor. Then she’s Emperor. The alternative is unacceptable.”

“What is the alternative?”

“Have you got an escape plan I don’t know about, Gabriel? Because I’m not seeing one. Had I known killing your favorite fuck buddy would put you into an existential crisis, I would have done it myself.”

“She’s not my-“

“Not what? Your fuck buddy? Or your favorite?” She paused. “Maybe Burnham was your favorite.”

He looked at her questioningly. 

She shook her head. “If anybody else had suggested that plan, I would cut their tongue out, but here we are. My stupid suggestion.”

* * *

 

The next morning, Hawthorne walked into the cell. Killy was tied up on the floor with her hands chained to the wall of the cell. 

“How are you holding up?” 

“Do you really think tying me to this wall could break me?” 

“I think agony booths have their limits. It’s not a matter of how much torture you can take, it’s a matter of what you can get used to. Take your mama for instance.” 

Killy glared at her. 

“Yeah, I’ve met her. Always at the Emperor’s side, always sucking up to her, sometimes doing more than that. You may have killed your captain to get Discovery but without your mama’s help, you never would have been in that position anyway. It’s a shame that history will remember you as a traitor whose only accomplishment was being born to a sycophant.” 

“You’re one to talk. Born into the high house, contracted to Gabriel Lorca-”

“And who told you that?”

Killy was quiet. Just for a moment. “Burnham. We used to laugh at you, no armor, no weapons and still you walked around thinking you had everything. How could you be so stupid?” 

Hawthorne smiled, kneeling down in front of her. 

“That’s right, no armor, no weapons and yet I don’t walk around in fear. You have armor, a phaser and a dagger and you know at any moment one of your crew could stab you in the back. Yet I don’t. What’s the difference?” She leaned forward. “You might have fucked him, but I am betting he told you to leave when you were done. He has never told me to leave.” 

“Is there a point to all this?” 

“It’s a new day for the Empire. You can either be a part of it or you can die.” Killy stared at her. “Not right now, though. Later, after Gabriel is Emperor and we’re making examples of everyone. Though I do expect an answer now.” 

“Yes.” 

“Yes, you’ll join us or yes, I should start making arrangements for your execution?” 

“Yes. I’ll join.”

Hawthorne smiled and stood. 

“Excellent. Just wait. You’re going to like the new Empire.” 

Hawthorne left and walked straight into Gabriel. 

“What are you doing?”

She rolled her eyes. “Planning a revolution. Again, I might add since you screwed up my last plan by developing feelings for a chess piece. Don’t tell me you have feelings for that pawn in there.” 

“She tried to hurt Emmy-” 

“Okay, yes, that’s why I’m going to kill her later when we’ve installed the new order-” 

“You just said-” 

“No one can lay a hand on the Heiress Apparent. Once I have scared that into everyone, we’ll all be much better off.” 

He gaped at her. 

“Bridge to Captain Lorca.”

He walked over to the console. “Lorca here.” 

“We have a coded signal coming in.”

“Send it to this screen.” 

He sighed. She could tell right away it wasn’t anything he recognized. “Do you not know what that is?” 

“No.” 

“It’s one of mine.” 

He turned. “And what does it say?” 

“It says plot a course to Risa. Your girlfriend’s not dead.” 

“What? Burnham?” 

“Yeah, the rest of your skanks are onboard.” 

He paused. “What if it’s just a trick by the Emperor-” 

She sighed. “I doubt she told her mother where she lost her virginity.” Hawthorne turned. “Yet another reason to remind people not to touch the Heiress Apparent.” 

* * *

The ride to Risa was quiet.

What she wanted to talk about was the last time they had been there together, what Gabriel had said that night that made her think… made her think he loved her. 

Instead, they said nothing. 

The Theoquartz Cave was the oldest temple on Risa, now used by the Terran Imperial Fleet as a rest stop of sorts. 

“This place is different,” muttered Lorca. 

“It could use a coat of paint.” 

“Captain Lorca,” said the hostess, “we’ve been expecting you.” 

“I am-” He looked back at Hawthorne. “We are meeting someone.” 

“Weapons, please. You know our policy.” 

“Of course.” 

He put down his phaser and his dagger. Hawthorne did the same, watching him as they followed the hostess in. 

No, he couldn’t have. He wouldn’t have. 

He hadn’t left all of his weapons at the desk, had he? 

“That’s far enough, Gabriel.” 

“Burnham?” He paused. “Michael?” 

Burnham emerged from the shadows. She looked at Hawthorne. 

“What’s she here for?” 

Hawthorne smiled. “I came to see whatever explanation you were going to offer for your inability to die.” 

“I need to know you don’t have any weapons,” said Burnham. 

“We checked them at the door-” said Lorca. 

“I know you better than that.” 

Hawthorne snorted. 

“I’ll deal with you in a minute,” said Burnham. 

“I doubt you can.” 

Lorca looked at Burnham. “Enough. What do you want, Michael?” 

“First things first, take off your shirt.” 

Lorca sighed, taking off his jacket and t-shirt. It was then Hawthorne realized something. 

There was no scar on his back. He had kept that for years- 

She decided to wait. 

“Turn around,” said Burnham. 

He did as she bade and Hawthorne waited for the exact second Burnham realized what she just had and put her hand on the tiny phaser hidden in her waistband. 

“Where’s your scar?,” asked Burnham. 

“My scar-” 

In a flash, Hawthorne pulled out the phaser and fired on Burnham, knocking her unconscious. 

“Le-Hawthorne, Jesus-” 

She pointed the phaser at the man who shared Gabriel Lorca’s face. 

“Where is he?” 

“Where is who?”

“Gabriel Lorca.” 

“Hawthorne-” 

“Don’t toy with me. You don’t have a scar, you didn’t recognize my code and you-” She couldn’t finish. There were so many things. 

“Of course it’s me.”

“What color dress was I wearing the night we met?” 

“Silver.” 

“See, you’re a shitty impostor, you can’t even be bothered to do the research! Where is Gabriel Lorca?!” 

“I am Gabriel Lorca!” 

“No, you’re not-” 

“I’m just not this one. I’m from another place, another universe and it’s nothing like this one! Well it’s kind of like this one. You’re there, Burnham’s there-” 

“Super,” snorted Hawthorne. 

“This place is there. My wife and I made our first baby here.” 

That was true. Which probably meant- 

“Who is Jimmy Carter where you come from?” 

“He was President of one of the old nation states? Peanut farmer?”

Hawthorne dropped the phaser to her side. 

“You’re from there.” 

“Wait. There. You people know about this?” 

“Well, Nana knows and she tells me everything. There was a thing.” 

“Do you know a way back there?” 

She shook her head. “Where do you think you’re going?” 

“Home.” 

“I need you. Impostor or not, you’ve got Gabriel Lorca’s face. We’re having a coup, remember?”

“I don’t do that-” 

“I’m going to assume caring for my daughter was not part of the act. Her life is on the line. So is mine. So are a lot of people’s lives.” 

He sighed. ”I would never hurt Emmy, but I have to get home.” 

She could not believe the naiveté. 

“You haven’t met Gabriel Lorca, but let me tell you one thing about him: he has a plan. He probably started thinking of it the moment he realized where he was and he has been doing everything he can every second of every day to get back here.” 

“To get back to you.” 

“To take over the Empire.” She shook her head. “Honestly…” 

“Starfleet will find a way. I bet Letty figures it out.” 

“Who’s Letty?” 

“My wife.” He swallowed. “You.” 

“What makes you think she knows?” 

This seemed to perplex him. “He couldn’t pass as me.” 

“You passed as him.” 

“But that’s different-” 

“Uh-huh.” She motioned at the still unconscious Burnham. “Grab her. I’ll get the feet.” 

“Why are we taking her?” 

“Another thing about Gabriel Lorca, he does what I say.” 

Gabe scoffed. “Well, that’s not different.”

He picked her up. Hawthorne grabbed the feet. 

“Letty said what you said. About Freddie Mercury.” 

“The only man who never disappointed me?” 

“And me.” 

She looked back at him. 

“Her dad was in there but got thrown out when he called me a Starfleet security lunkhead her cousin had the good sense to cast aside about two hours before our wedding.” 

Hawthorne nodded. “You and Freddie. Imagine that.”  


	19. "The love of your life will carry you through any circumstance."

* * *

It was hard not to worry. 

Something was going on, but she didn’t know what. Gabe was distracted. So distracted he had forgotten to send the kids their usual comms before she mentioned it. She was having to chase him down a lot for live calls. 

Then Michael Burnham. 

She had met Burnham once on the Shenzhou. The ship was getting a computer overhaul and she hadn’t thought much except that she seemed very determined to be the smartest one in the room.

Which really annoyed Letty because she wanted to be the smartest one in the room.

She had forgotten about it as soon as she left. 

She knew Georgiou from Tarsus IV and the trip back to Earth. They had only a passing acquaintanceship, she was more concerned with Emmy and Gabe and all the shit that happened, but she liked her.  

The news about the Battle of the Binary Stars broke on the news service first. The vague details of an encounter with the Klingons that had gone horribly wrong. 

Then Gabe was summoned to Starfleet Command where he got the real details. The name Michael Burnham was cursed several times before a round of angry sex she would never forget.

So it was more than a little surprising to hear Gabe had drafted her.

Worrying even.

“Who told you?”

“Nobody has to tell me, Gabe. It’s all over Starfleet Command so it’s all over the Daystrom Institute.”

“Are you questioning me-“

“I’m not on your crew. I’ll question you all I want.”

He nodded. That smirk that Jacob had. The one that made it nearly impossible to stay mad at either one. 

“You just seemed extremely pissed at her. That’s all.”

“I need everyone I can to win this war.”

“Right. Like Landry.”

“I told you, I didn’t choose her. Besides, she’s dead.”

Letty was taken aback. “She’s dead? When?”

“Two weeks?”

“Was there a battle or-“

“Not quite. It’s… complicated. Actually, much more complicated than it should be. You didn’t like her-“

“I didn’t want her dead. Just far away from my husband.”

She heard the door open.

“Mommy!”

“In here, kids!”

Emmy and Jacob ran in.

“Daddy!,” said Jacob. 

“Hey, bud. Hi, Emmy.”

“I got my yellow belt!”

“That’s great. Emmy, what have you been up to?”

“When are you coming home?”

“Just as soon as I can, baby.”

Then there was Emmy. Gabe and Emmy has been joined at the hip since she was born. He had taken the assignment on Tarsus IV to be with her. He had even considered leaving Starfleet afterwards, but it was Letty who dissuaded him, asking what he planned to do. He couldn’t think of anything.

She remembered how scared she was to tell Emmy that Gabe had died. 

She had gotten the news just after dinner, spending an hour frozen wondering what the fuck she was going to do. She finally regained her senses enough to call her own mother. Emerson had told her to leave it until the next day, to not let the weight of their father’s death go to bed with them. 

She didn’t sleep, she stayed up listening to Queen and smelling Gabe’s pillow.

Her mother arrived the next morning to help with the kids. She did explain, she tried to find the words.

Daddy died. 

Jacob didn’t get it. Emmy was furious. 

Two days later, Kat called, saying that Gabe was alive, injured, in medical stasis until he got to San Francisco but alive. 

The only survivor.

She heard the whispers, a captain who didn’t go down with the ship, but what the fuck did she care? She still had him. She got a reprieve from the waking nightmare she couldn’t escape.

Except he belonged to Starfleet. And the war. 

And so she spent her nights alone still. 

“Mommy!”

Letty turned to see Jacob coming down the stairs.

“Mommy, I heard a monster.”

“We checked for monsters.” 

“But I heard one!”

“Well, let me show you.”

She brought up the house screen expecting three life signs and there were three inside the house.

And four outside.

“Mommy!”

Letty pulled up the exterior camera. 

It was a Klingon.

She had only seen one in person. Long ago, on the Zhukov, a lost merchant. 

It took Gabe and five others to drag him into a holding cell when he got wasted.

And Gabe had gotten his ass kicked.

“That’s-“

She clapped her hand over his mouth.

“Listen very carefully. I want you to go in the backyard and go next door. You need to wake up Kyle and his parents and call Starfleet security.”

“But Mommy-“

“I will be right behind you.”

“Aren’t you coming-“

“I will but I need to get Emmy.”

“Mommy-“

“Right behind you.”

She watched him hurry through the kitchen and hurried upstairs to Emmy’s room.

“Emmy.” She started pulling the blanket off her. “Baby, come on.”

“Mom-“

“Now, come on-“

Emmy moaned as Letty dragged her. 

“Mom, I want to go back to bed-“

“No-“

She heard Jacob scream from downstairs.

“Mommy!”

She rushed down to find the Klingons at the landing, not knowing Emmy was there until she felt her grab her from behind. One was holding Jacob by the wrist, letting him dangle.

“You’re going to break his arm!”

The Klingon dropped him to the floor.

“Look, I will go with you, I will do whatever you want, just leave my children out of it, okay?”

“No,” was the considered Klingon response. 

And that was what she remembered.

* * *

 

Letty woke up on a floor. 

A gross one.

Shit. 

Bad. She forced herself up and saw Emmy next to her, staring wide eyed.

“Emmy, are you okay?”

She didn’t say anything. Letty brought herself to her feet and walked over.

“Emmy?” She knelt down in front of her. “Emmy, are you okay?”

Jesus. What was the plan if she wasn’t? Ask the Klingons for help?

“Where’s your brother? Do you know?”

“I want Daddy.”

“I know.”

“I want Daddy.”

Letty sighed. She hated admitting, yes, Gabe Lorca would be a good thing right about fucking now. A pissed off starship captain.

The door opened. It was not a pissed off starship captain, but a Klingon female in white armor. She stood with Emmy behind her.

“Doctor Hawthorne Cornwell.”

“Well, it would be stupid if you had the wrong person, wouldn’t it?”

She narrowed her eyes. 

“You are carrying a child…” she let her hand drag over Letty’s stomach. Letty rolled her eyes. “Tell me, do you wish your child to live?”

“Where’s Jacob?”

She barked something in Klingon and one of the guards practically threw him in. His wrist was in a bandage.

“Is that your idea of a repair?”

“I am sorry the amenities are not to your liking.”

“I was fine. Back at my house.”

“What do you know about Discovery?”

Discovery. That didn’t make sense. There were so many more interesting projects she had worked on. Unless… 

Unless it worked. 

“I know shit about Discovery,” said Letty.

“That’s Daddy’s ship,” said Jacob. 

“Shut up!,” hissed Emmy.

“Perhaps your children could be more useful.”

She stepped in front of both kids. “Bitch, that will be the last mistake you make.”

The Klingon female smiled in amusement.

“You will  make a worthy adversary.” 

The female motioned and the guards grabbed her. The kids started shouting for her. 

She wanted to scream for them, too, but there was the very real possibility this would be the last time they saw her and she was not about to let them go through the rest of their lives with that image in their head. 

“Everything’s going to be okay, kids. I promise. I love you!”

The door slammed shut. 


	20. "The best prophet of the future is the past."

“Letty.”

Gabe looked up. Burnham was tied up in the back of the shuttle and very unconscious.

“Yeah?”

“I go by Letty?”

Hawthorne shook her head.

“She doesn’t like her first name.”

“Who cares? You don’t get to pick your first name.”

“You didn’t name Emmy-“

“Well, I couldn’t call her Cornwell Cornwell, could I? She should have been Cornwell Lorca.”

Gabe was aghast. “You would have actually named her Cornwell?”

“Why not?”

“Oh, I don’t know, a childhood with kids picking on her?”

“Her father is Gabriel Lorca. No one would have made fun of her.”

“Oh, is that why she’s so well adjusted?,” asked Gabe, motioning at their prisoner.

Hawthorne scoffed. “She never had a chance.”

Gabe raised an inquisitive brow.

She sighed. “The Burnhams were close with the Emperor. Very close, until they, much like their daughter had aspirations to higher things. A young captain, Gabriel Lorca, put a stop to that and won his place at the Emperor’s side.”

Gabe looked at the sleeping Michael. “And she and Lorca...?”

Hawthorne shrugged. “She idolized him. Then she fell for him.”

“And where did you come in?”

“She was set to inherit the Empire. I told him to encourage her crush.”

“You people…”

“Do you know where the children of Imperial Fleet commanders and above live?”

“At home…”

“When they’re five, the Emperor’s special guard comes and takes them to a school on a ship. No one knows where it is except the Emperor. Michael’s first classmates were her mother’s hostages. A policy she enacted after the Burnhams’ untimely demise.”

“Lorca’s second in command.”

“No exceptions. Probably why she set us up in the first place. She would have loved to hold something over him.” She paused. “You weren’t fucking Landry.”

“No.”

“And you wouldn’t fuck me.”

“No…”

“Then Who are you fucking?”

“I’m not fucking anyone.”

“Why not?”

“I’m married.”

She shrugged. “Your point?”

“I only have sex with my wife.”

Hawthorne looked positively flummoxed. “How long have you been married?”

“Fifteen years.”

“And you’ve never-“

“No.”

“When she was pregnant.”

“No.”

“Are you together all the time?”

“No.”

Hawthorne shook her head. “I am so confused.”

“What is confusing? I love my wife.”

“I loved my wife, I wasn’t dead.”

Gabe looked at Hawthorne. “I don’t think you did.” 

“Why would you say that?”

“Well, judging by the blood spatter.” 

“Buran to shuttle,” came over the speaker.

“Heading back, Buran.”

He muted it again. “Did you love him?”

“Of course not.”

“You said you could never hurt him.”

“I was just playing you,” she said too quickly. 

“Uh-huh.”

“Uh-huh what?”

“I don’t believe you.”

* * *

 

They put Michael in a cell with orders to keep her sedated. Hawthorne said she would work out a plan. They went back to their quarters. 

“Daddy!”

Hawthorne cast a wary glance. Gabe brought Emmy into an embrace. 

“Hey, baby.”

“I drew a picture, like you asked.” 

Anything to keep her away from that Terran Empire propaganda. “Great. Let me see.”

She led him back to the table. “See, I drew Stratos.” 

“I see. That’s very good.” 

“Emmy, why don’t you go get ready for dinner?,” said Hawthorne. 

“Okay.” 

Emmy went back with the Kelpien. 

“You’re not him. She’s not-” 

“What am I supposed to do?” 

“This is going to be difficult enough once you switch back, I don’t want Emmy getting hurt.” 

“Well, I’m not going to let her think her dad doesn’t love her.” 

“Because it makes you feel better.” 

“What the hell are you so afraid of him for?” 

She snorted. “I’m not afraid of him.” 

“Then what the hell is the problem? You love him, he loves you-” 

“He doesn’t love me.” 

“How did he get the scar?” 

“What?” 

“I had a look over his medical file when I first got here. I didn’t connect it until today, it said he got stabbed by a crewman blocking a knife from hitting someone. Was it you?”

“What makes you say that?” 

“Because you’re one of only two people here that I think are worth protecting.”  

Hawthorne didn’t answer. 

“And what about Burnham?,” he asked. “You’re picking up the Emperor’s chess pieces.”

“I’m thinking about it. We won’t get her to believe you’re him.” 

“You believed it.”

“Well, Letty and I must have more in common than one would think. I suppose your monogamy extends to Michael Burnham?” 

He sighed. “I’ve never met Michael Burnham.”

“Let me tell you about Michael Burnham. She is vain and selfish, she can’t decide if she wants to be at her mother’s right hand or Gabriel’s. Georgiou is the stick, Gabriel was the carrot. You’re not going to be able to pull that off.” 

“No,” Gabe admitted. The thought of seducing Burnham was impossible to him. He knew Letty. She was as logical as Hawthorne. She would forgive anything he did to get home. He wouldn’t forgive himself. 

“Though I think your wife might prefer you alive more than monogamous,” she sighed, echoing his thoughts. “But If that’s the hill you’ve chosen to die on…”

“You can’t work around it? You really needed him for that?”

She sighed. “Don’t you worry. I’ll come up with a plan.”

“Okay.” 

Hawthorne turned suddenly. “Daystrom.” 

Gabe grimaced. “Daystrom?” 

“So you’ve met.” 

“He’s in love with you. Letty. Too stupid to know it.”

Hawthorne frowned. “I don’t know if I would call it love…”


	21. "Love is like war, easy to begin, but hard to stop."

* * *

“The time is 1900 hours.”

That was weird, thought Lorca. Usually by now Letty was tracking him down for a call. She had missed yesterday. He sent the texts to the kids with no replies. 

Emmy always answered. 

His evenings were less interesting. Landry’s death meant a sore lack of after hours amusements. Michael would have been an interesting choice if only because he needed her, but he was certain the highly ethical Vulcan-raised version of her would balk at sleeping with a married man. Such were the mores of this universe.

Still, the spore drive worked even if it was with the tardigrade. That was progress. Once Stamets plugged himself in, they could truly begin.

“Admiral Cornwell for you, sir,” said Saru.

“Put it through.”

Kat appeared before him. He didn’t like the expression on her face. 

“What? Did we lose the war?”

“There was a breach in Earth’s planetary defenses.”

“Why isn’t it on wide-“

“It was only one bird of prey.”

“One bird of prey? That doesn’t make any sense, why-“

“Gabriel, I need you to brace yourself for what I’m about to tell you.” 

“For what?”

“Their target was Letty.”

“What? My Letty? Why would-“

“She does a lot of stuff at work she doesn’t tell you about.”

“Are the kids okay? Emmy didn’t answer me this morning, I-“

“She was targeted at home. Emmy and Jacob were taken with her.”

“No, that’s-“

That wasn’t a thing that could happen. His heart pounded, his mind raced…

“Gabriel, talk to me.”

He had to get it together. 

“We can get someone to assume command of Discovery for the duration of this mission-“

“Do you think I am going to waste one fucking second while Letty and the kids are being held prisoner by the Klingons? How the fuck does that even happen? I want the head of whatever dipshit was in charge of planetary security!”

“It’s being investigated-“

“I want everything there is! Everything!”

“You’ll have it. And any support you need-“

Lorca walked onto the bridge.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Saru was already on alert.

“Captain, Starfleet Command has just transmitted a number of data sets-“

“Prepare assignments, Number One. I want teams going over every piece of data. This is a top priority.”

The crew’s curiosity was piqued.

“May I ask what our mission is?”

“A top Federation scientist has been kidnapped by the Klingons, along with her children. Our mission is hostage recovery.”

The bridge crew seemed stunned. Of course these Humans would be. They thought the Klingons were sapient beings who might be reasoned with. They didn’t know what animals they were. If this had happened back home, Klingon blood would be streaming across the galaxy until Gabriel Lorca found his family. 

“But, Captain-“

Saru had just figured it out. 

“Yes, Mr. Saru?”

“This says the scientist in question is Hawthorne Cornwell. Your wife.”

A hush fell over the bridge. 

“So you can understand why I’d like to get going.”

* * *

 

It had been hours, projecting different courses, listening to post reports, sifting through data.

“Captain, I’ve obtained the data from the Daystrom Institute.”

He joined Saru at his console. A lot of stuff he didn’t know about. What did the Klingons know about?

“And?”

“It’s redacted.”

“My wife’s on a Klingon ship and they’re still claiming security?”

“There are some titles. A processor to crack Klingon cloaking technology, work in stasis fields-“

“Stasis fields? They’re bullshitting us. Get Daystrom on the comm.”

“The institute?”

“No. The Daystrom. Richard Daystrom.”

Don’t be jealous, Letty had said. Saru seemed more than a little surprised at the order.

“Captain Lorca.”

He turned. “Burnham.”

“I’m sorry about what’s happened to your wife and children. I have no idea what you must be going through.”

Wow. She actually meant that, didn’t she? Still, he knew she must have an agenda. 

“What is it, Burnham?”

“The tardigrade. I think the creature is distressed.”

“Distressed?”

“Yes, the creature seems to be decompensating-“

“Can it do the job?”

Like he cared. Plug Stamets in already.

“I’m not sure, with the amount of stress Ripper is experiencing-“

Oh, God, she had named it. His Michael never would have named it.

“Captain Lorca, Richard Daystrom is ready.”

He looked to the holo projection before him. He still seemed to have a little bit of that crazy in him.

“Captain Lorca.”

“Richard.”

He took a chance. It unnerved him.

“I’ll be quick because I’m busy,” said Lorca. “These redacted files aren’t any good to me. I need to know what Letty was working on.”

“I don’t have the clearance for that.” 

“I don’t care.”

“This is policy. Letty knew what she was getting into.”

“You suppose my kids knew?”

It was a low blow, but he’d use it. 

“That’s not the point. I’m sorry, but your children are not worth the damage to Federation interests.”

“They are worth all of it.” He snorted, remembering how he thought Gabe Lorca might have been a step down for Letty. He wasn’t. He was stupidly earnest, devoted and never would have pretended anything was more important than his kids. “No wonder she didn’t end up with you.”

“Is that what you think?”

“Yeah, actually.”

“Well, I think she wasted her intellect marrying you.”

If he were home, he probably would have tossed him in an agony booth after he kicked his ass for that because he was Gabriel Lorca and that was what he wanted to do.

“Yeah? Well, fuck off.”

He beat Saru to the end transmission button, slamming it with his fist.

The Kelpien was completely stymied. 

“Orders, Captain?” 

“Have someone assigned to the Daystrom data. I don’t think they’re going to give us more.” 

“Yes, Captain. Lieutenant Commander Airiam-” 

Lorca turned to Michael. 

“You didn’t meet my kids.”

“No, sir.”

“Jacob is five. He turns six next week. Emmy is ten. They gave me the tribble in my ready room because they didn’t want me to be lonely. I think they must be experiencing an extreme amount of stress.”

“Of course, sir, I in no way meant to imply-“

“I know what you meant, Burnham. Bring me a solution.”

“Yes, Captain.”

He turned. Michael was still waiting. 

“Is there something else, Burnham?”

“I met Doctor Cornwell once aboard the Shenzhou. I didn’t make the connection before.” She paused. “She’s a very capable woman.”

That was new. His Michael had never said one nice thing about Hawthorne. 

“She is.” 

“So why would the Federation waste her on a project to do with stasis fields during wartime?”

“No, they wouldn’t.” 

Michael left. Lorca stared back at the screen. 

The Klingons were going to pay for this. Then it was time to get Letty and the kids out of this terrible place. 


	22. "Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain."

* * *

 

_ “Surprise!” _

_ Gabe lifted his hands from Letty’s eyes. _

_ “It’s a bar.” _

_ “But what kind of bar?” _

_ “You’re killing us with the suspense, Gabe.” _

_ He turned to their companion, Winona Kirk. They’d been on Tarsus IV six weeks. He had invited his coworkers from the outpost and friends he had made in town to a fifth anniversary celebration.  Letty did not make friends as easily so her contribution to the guest list was their long time friend, Winona. They had known her ever since she visited her husband on the Zhukov. Gabe couldn’t be too annoyed because her boys were babysitting Emmy.  _

_ “I’m getting to that , Winona.” _

_ Gabe led Letty by the hand to the small stage. There was a microphone and a computer screen hooked up to a holo projector. _

_ “Karaoke?,” asked Winona.  _

_ Letty waved her hand. “He might have done okay depending on my selection.”  _

_ “I was just getting to that…” he grabbed the microphone and hit a song. The lyrics popped up, but he didn’t need them. _

_  “Love of my life, you hurt me. You’ve broken my heart and now you leave me. Love of my life, can’t you see? Bring it back, bring it back, don’t take it away from me because you don’t know what it means to me…” _

_ Their guests were already cheering. _

_ “Happy anniversary,” he said kissing her.  _

_ “I’m going to kill you.” _

_ “No, you’re not.” _

_ “I’m going to embarrass you at least.” _

_ “Shows what you know. You can’t possibly embarrass me.” _

_ “What if I tell about the time Nana walked in on you and Kat?” _

_ He sighed. “Okay, that might-“ _

_ “Then walked in on us in the same room five years later?”  _

_ He buried a groan. “I really wish you would just let that-“ _

_ “No. Never.” _

“Daddy!”

Gabe stirred. He had been half awake, comforting himself with a happy memory. Emmy stared at him.

“I’m sorry, baby, what is it?”

“Mommy said to tell you that we’re there.”

“Did she say where there was?”

“No.”

He sat up, trying to collect himself. He looked at Emmy.

“You want to say something.”

“How do you know?”

“It’s the way you put your lips together, like you’re trying to stop the words coming out.”

Gabe remembered when he was home all too shortly. He tried to talk to her. He got all of Mrs. Soisid’s comms while he was away. She was smart, kind, helpful, but painfully shy, a target for the other children. He worried about that, worried about how to make her as bold as he knew she could be. 

“You don’t have to stop what you want to say, okay?,” he said. “You’re getting to be a big girl, you should speak your mind.”

“Mommy says that.”

“Mommy’s right. How do you think Mommy got to be the way she is?”

"Mommy's not afraid." 

"Hey, everyone is afraid sometimes, even Mommy." 

"Even you?" 

He smiled. "I'm only half as brave as Mommy so yeah, I get scared sometimes." 

"Of what?" 

He paused. "What if something happened to my Emmy?"

She hugged him and he felt like a heel. 

His Emmy. 

* * *

 

Gabe tried to push away thoughts of home as he headed to the bridge. Distracted by memories was bad enough, thinking of his kids was-

Jesus. It was almost Jacob's birthday. Six. 

He tried to content himself that they were safe and at home, where they belonged. This Emmy, though... 

The turbolift doors opened. 

“Arriving,” announced Nori. She looked up at Gabe. “Captain on deck.” 

Gabe walked towards Letty. “Running my ship now?” 

“If I didn’t, it wouldn’t have been a surprise.” 

Gabe looked at the viewscreen. A space station. 

“And where is this?” 

“This is my dowry. Well, in a manner of speaking. Let’s beam over.” 

* * *

 

Gabe’s first impression was that the place was more pleasure palace than space station. 

“Mrs. Lorca.”

There even were slaves waiting to greet them. Hawthorne waved off the proffered refreshments as Gabe followed her off the transporter pad. .

“What is this place?”

“My think tank.” 

The place was gleaming.

“It was going to be a wedding present for Gabriel. All my best ideas, everything he’d need to win an empire.”

“Got anything to travel dimensions?”

“I told you that you don’t have to worry. Gabriel will find a way back.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I know Gabriel.” She stopped at a door. “And this is where I keep my best secret.”

They entered the next room where Gabe saw Richard Daystrom chained to a work station.

Literally. 

“I let everyone think I killed him, even Nana doesn’t know.”

Daystrom looked up at him. “Well, if it isn’t the man himself.”

Hawthorne motioned. “Your wedding gift.”

“Can we trust him?”

“Of course we can. He’s got three agonizers on him, just in case he decides to do something silly with one of the others. How are my stasis fields?” 

“They aren’t ready.” 

“Well, they had better get ready. And I’m going to need about three hundred destabilizers.” 

“Three hundred?! I can’t-” 

She pressed a button on the wall. “I am not interested in excuses.” 

Gabe watched in horror as Daystrom writhed. 

“I don’t-” 

She sighed at his Human softness, unpressing it. “I keep telling you, darling, the agonizer won’t affect his precious mind.” 

“What do you need three hundred destabilizers for? And what are we destabilizing?” 

“Time.” 

“Time?” 

“Because I’m going to stop time on the Charon and then I’ll put your people into position.” 

“My people?” 

“Yes, the hundreds of prisoners the Emperor has locked up there. Kat will provide reinforcements and we’ll have control over the Empire. 

“I don’t think-” 

Hawthorne shoved him in the hall. “We’re taking the Charon.”

“Yeah, well, part of my plan for getting home includes not dying.” 

“Okay, first, we are very close to waiting too long to make our move. Hiding is dying. Second, what good is being alive if you Gabriel can’t find us to switch you back?”

“And how do you know he’ll go for the Charon?” 

“Because I know him. He’s coming for the Charon.” 

“A Starfleet crew won’t just attack another ship-”

“And he knows that and he’ll find a way of manipulating them.”

“If he’s even succeeded in passing himself off as me!” 

“Of course he has. It’s what he does.” 

“And this is the love of your life?” 

“Who ever said that?!”  

“Of course he is! You built this place for him and now you’re going to use me to have a coup for him!” 

“God, you two are so alike. Your moral indignation, though I will say it’s worse in you-” 

“What was he ever morally indignant about?” 

“Burnham.” 

That took him by surprise. “Burnham?”

“Never mind. Let’s take a look at some weapons, shall we?” 

She huffed off. 


	23. "Your loyalties will be rewarded."

* * *

Torture was a strange business.

The woman was L’Rell. She seemed to confer mostly with a Voq. They wanted all the details of the spore drive which Letty thought was stupid. There were so many more interesting things that she knew and she didn’t know the spore drive or the reason for its sudden prominence. 

All in all, she was low on information. 

Of course if she let L’Rell know that, there was no reason to keep them alive. So she played along, through the torture, relieved when she felt the baby kick and then back in the same anxiety because she couldn’t see Emmy or Jacob. 

All the same L’Rell seemed aware that she couldn’t push too hard. 

“If you do not tell me, I will kill one of your children.”

“You’re going to kill us anyway.”

“Perhaps I will show mercy.”

“Mercy? What’s the Klingon word for that?”

“It is a Human concept. One of your treacheries.”

“Then you can appreciate my skepticism.”

Letty sighed. Gabe would be looking. Gabriel Lorca would destroy the whole galaxy looking. 

The galaxy was a big place, though.

He would need help. 

“Look, even if I wanted to show you how it works, I can’t. There’s too many equations.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on. It’s not a manual. It would take months with a computer to explain.”

She barked something at the guards and Letty was soon ripped from her position and dragged down the hall. L’Rell slammed her in front of a computer.

“What? You expect me to use this?” Letty shook her head. “It doesn’t even have numbers!”

L’Rell grudgingly changed the settings to English. 

Letty looked. “That’s better.”

She turned to the monitor. As a middle schooler, she had done a project about Alan Turing and the machine he built to crack the Nazi code. It was how she became interested in processors, making things react faster. She had thought of the spore drive as a similar project, so many possibilities but she didn’t even know where the cipher began. That was how little jumps worked. 

How they got the big jumps to work was a big fucking mystery. 

She had also learned about codes.

* * *

 

Lorca had finally deigned to get some sleep. It had started with the CMO threatening to take him off the bridge. Which would be bad.

He also figured he needed to be sharp when he did find them. If the Klingons were worried about Discovery before, Wait until they saw the vengeance he would wreak.

Lorca slept about an hour. Then he found himself pulling out Gabe’s video comm.

The man was obsessed. There were vids of everything.

“Okay, this one is dedicated to my husband.”

Letty was on a small stage somewhere, holding a microphone.

The camera panned back to Gabe in the front row with a stupid grin on his face.

“Gabriel. Who probably invited you here tonight… unless you’re Winona.”

“Whoo!,” shouted the person holding the camera.

“He probably told you all it’s our fifth wedding anniversary…”

The audience applauded and whooped jovially.

“And he definitely told you we have a baby, Emmy. Who is three months old and you can do the math on what our fourth anniversary was like…”

More whoops.

“He probably didn’t tell you that we met when he was dating my cousin.”

Nothing could take that stupid grin off Gabe’s face. He was so… happy. Lorca wondered if he had ever been that happy.  Happy just to be married and have a baby. 

“Tonight, I’m gonna have myself a really good time…”

Huh. Hawthorne sang that one, too.

_ “Come on, you don’t know Queen?” _

_ Hawthorne was in his quarters, one of her early visits. They were getting longer as he found he liked her company. _

_ He liked himself when he was with her. He even liked when she was weird. _

_ Lorca crossed his arms. “Not since my tutor.” _

_ She seemed intent on instructing him and lured him to his feet. _

_ “Two hundred degrees, that’s why they call me Mister Fahrenheit…” she sang. _

_ “What is this song about even?” _

_ “Sex, Gabriel.” She sighed. “Schoolwork is no place to bury the classics.” _

_ “Where did you learn about classical music?” _

_ “My mom. Didn’t your moms sing to you?” _

_ He nodded. “Old Spanish lullabies or Lady Gaga…” _

_ “Ah, Lady Gaga…” Hawthorne spun around, rejoining Freddie Mercury. “I’m gonna make a super sonic man out of you…”  _

_“I’d like to see that…”_  

“Bridge to Captain Lorca.”

Lorca sat up, reaching for his uniform. 

“Yes, Mr. Saru?” 

“We’ve encountered something I think you should look at.” 

* * *

 

He went onto the bridge.

“Number one, report.”

“We may have found something. This transmission was on a wide broadcast in the Dayern sector.  Onscreen.”

The viewscreen showed a series of numbers. 

“A lot of ones and zeroes,” said Lorca.

“Remove the ones and zeroes.”

They disappeared fromthe screen. 

“Coordinates.”

“I thought the other numbers might be binary code, but they were just nonsense.”

Lorca frowned. “Translate the binary.”

Bismillah.

“All we could find in the linguistic database was a term used by one of the Earth religions-“

“I know what it means,” said Lorca. 

“Well, then it almost becomes a distress signal but-“

“But?”

“Then it makes another reference to Earth religions-“

“Beelzebub.”

“How did you know?”

“Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me.”

Saru looked at him in amazement. Lorca turned to the bridge.

“Does no one here know the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody?”

They stared at him blankly.

“Your school systems have a lot to answer for.”

“Captain?,” Saru questioned.

“It’s Dr. Cornwell. She knows I’m looking for her.”

“Are you certain?”

“Unless the Klingons discovered Queen, yeah. Start plotting out her coordinates, I want to jump as soon as possible.”

The lights went low as the computer announced the Black Alert.

“Engineering,” he called. 

“Spore drive is ready, Captain.”

“Jump.”

Discovery jumped. Lorca readied himself for a Klingon firefight and he got nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

“Where is it?”

“No signs of a ship.”

“Nothing on scanners, but long range we can plot out a potential course based on the warp signature-“

“Let’s do it. Engineering, get ready to jump again.”

There was a long wait. 

“That is not possible, Captain,” said Stamets.

“Why not?”

“You might want to come down here.”

Lorca sighed. 

Morons.

“Commander Saru, is there a starbase in that direction?”

“Starbase 84.”

“Transmit the maintenance log dump-“

“We weren’t scheduled.

“I know. Along with it, I want a message in binary.”

“Ready.”

“I’m burning through the sky, Yeah, Two hundred degrees, that’s why they call me Mister Fahrenheit. I’m traveling at the speed of light and I wanna make a supersonic woman of you.”

The Kelpien was beyond confused.

“But the Klingons might be listening.”

“And if they do, they’ll hear nonsense like you did, but Doctor Cornwell will understand.”

* * *

 

Fucking idiot.

Lorca entered engineering to see Burnham and Stamets and a tardigrade that seemed to be a shell.

“What happened?”

“Ripper seems to have gone into some kind of hibernation,” said Burnham. 

“And I’m assuming you can’t wake it up?”

They were silent.

“Then we need a new pilot.”

“Sir?,” asked Stamets.

“We can’t just find another tardigrade-“

“Do you want to tell me that’s the only species in the universe who can interact with that spore drive? If it’s such a genius system-“

“Dr. Cornwell couldn’t build a processor to navigate-“

“This isn’t a great time for you to bring up what Dr. Cornwell could and could not do, Stamets!”

Lorca was starting to lose the line between manipulating these people and actually losing control. 

Burnham took the lead in apologizing. “Lieutenant Stamets didn’t mean-“

“Stamets is a big boy, Burnham. He can speak for himself.”

“I wasn’t trying to offend you-“

“Why don’t you pretend it was your husband on a Klingon ship? Pretend it was your kids, terrified, wondering if Daddy is coming to save them. If you can get past the peanut butter Jacob put on your spore hub. Why don’t you do that and see if you can find a solution?”

Lorca left.

If that didn’t work he would have to strap Stamets in himself.


End file.
